As a matter of principle, professional sports contracts, whether it be in the NRL, AFL, A-League or Suncorp Super Netball, are more or less the same as other employment contracts. The athlete is the employee and the club that they play for is the employer. Both types of contracts set out the terms and conditions…
Tag: termination
Unfair Dismissal or General Protection? A high pressure choice facing employee litigants
When National system employees are unlawfully dismissed from employment they will generally have a choice of which section under the Fair Work Act to make their application. Was it an Unfair Dismissal, or was it a contravention of a General Protection involving dismissal? There is considerable overlap in these actions, but the Fair Work Act…
Out of work conduct: when is dismissal justified?
We see it all the time in professional sports: athletes losing their contracts over poor decisions made away from the game. Take for example, Todd Carney who was spectacularly sacked from the Cronulla Sharks, without procedural fairness, following the ‘bubbler’ incident, or Nick D’Arcy who was kicked off the Australian swimming team bound for the…
When High Performers Behave Badly
Most people will remember the ‘fracas’ that arose early last year when popular television show host, Jeremy Clarkson, allegedly punched a producer of Top Gear after failing to have a hot steak delivered to him after a day of filming. At the time, everyone had an opinion as to what the BBC should do about…
Redundancy
A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission regarding redundancy entitlements could have some unfortunate consequences for employees and, in my opinion, in the long term for business and the economy. In Compass Group (Australia) Pty Ltd v National Union of Workers; United Firefighters’ Union of Australia [2015] FWCFB 8040 the Full Bench of the…
NRL contracts – what are they really worth?
This NRL season has seen it’s normal amount of controversy over players’ contracts. Notably the the Daly Cherry Evans backflip, and Chris Sandow ‘s abrupt release from the Eels. But the Wests Tigers Robbie Farah news last week takes the cake as a clear indication that the a Contract of Employment in the NRL is worth less than…