Published 21 February 2022 For many of the world’s traditional nine-to-five ‘office workers’, COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the concept of the workplace. For many employers, this has been an opportunity to explore and embrace technologies and remote work practices to unprecedented levels. For many employees, remote working has become the new ‘norm’, and an expectation…
Author: Brian Powles
Brian is an accredited specialist in employment and industrial relations law, who is partner of a successful boutique Sydney law firm. He also hosts the Working Knowledge podcast.
Podcast | Managing Workplaces in the Post-Lockdown Era
Published 10 December 2021 In this episode we provide guidance on the way forward to normality post lockdown, and provide updates on the Public Health vaccination mandates for certain industries, and employers privately, with some interesting recent court and tribunal decisions. ‘The Good, the Bad and The Ugly’ of employment law returns, along with our…
Can rolling maximum term contracts be deemed a dismissal when a new contract is not offered?
Published 8 October 2021 Michael Nasr v Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd [2021] FWC 2802 Mr Michael Nasr had been employed by Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd (Mondelez) for approximately 18 months. He worked in various roles during his employment. The parties entered into a new maximum term contract for each role, with eight maximum term contracts…
Extension granted for a late unfair dismissal application after children conceal their father’s dismissal
Published 23 September 2021 Halil Goren v Tradelink Pty Limited [2021] FWC 5386 Mr Goren was dismissed while he was overseas and his return flight to Australia was delayed due to COVID-19. Mr Goren’s children were made aware of the dismissal and decided not to tell him about it until he had completed his two…
Podcast | Mandating COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace
Published 20 September 2021 Following our recent newsletter Can an employer mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for its employees?, today we discuss this further with consideration of whether this would be a lawful and reasonable direction, discriminatory, or necessary to meet duty of care obligations. We also give our take on “The Good, the Bad and the…
Can an employer mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for its employees?
Published 9 September 2021 Introduction It has been almost two years since the initial COVID-19 outbreak occurred, and after months of intermittent lockdowns and restrictions in an attempt to slow or reduce its spread, both the Australian State and Federal Government have stated that the administration of COVID-19 vaccinations are the key to lifting these…