Recently we were asked "Is it mandatory for a support person to be present at a disciplinary meeting, and what do I do if the employee wants to delay the meeting because they don't have a support person?" The short answer to the first part of the question is no - it is not mandatory for the employee to have a support person present. It is however r...

Businesses like to keep their costs down, so if faced with an unfair dismissal or other type of claim, it can sometimes be tempting to not engage experienced or legal representatives to support the business. But is it a good idea? In a word, no, probably not. A recent case in the Fair Work Commission highlights serves illustrates the point. The cas...

Q. We were recently asked by a client what the "BOOT Test" is all about. The question arose in a discussion regarding the potential development of a workplace agreement. A. "BOOT" is an acronym for the Better Off Overall Test , a test applied by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) when considering whether to formally register a workplace agreement propo...

Highlighted very recently in the media is a case brought to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) to increase the hours of casual employees to part time or full-time hours, effectively facilitating a conversion from casual employment to part time or full-time employment. In its initial decision, which has n...

We were recently asked to clarify the circumstance under which an employee is entitled to payment of pro-rata Long Service Leave prior to accumulating 10 years of service. Unlike most other terms and conditions of employment, Long Service Leave entitlements are predominantly determined by State-based legislation (though any applicable Awards and Ag...

​Recently we were asked "Is it mandatory for a support person to be present at a disciplinary meeting, and what do I do if the employee wants to delay the meeting because they don't have a support person?"  The short answer to the first part of the question is no - it is not mandatory for the employee to have a support person present. It ...

Did you know that probationary periods of employment are no longer a key determinant of a terminated employee's right to lodge an unfair dismissal claim? Indeed, the key determinant is now whether or not the employee was still within their minimum employment period , as defined by the Fair Work Act, at the time of termination (6 months in the case ...

The Position Description, otherwise known as a Job Description, Job Specification, JD, PD or JS is a humble document, often forgotten about altogether or at the very least, under-rated in terms of its value! Position Descriptions come in many forms - some are short and to-the-point, whereas others can be quite comprehensive and lengthy. Position De...