Global Workplace Insider Team

Firm/Organization: Covington & Burling LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright

Blogs: Covington Digital Health, Global Workplace Insider

Latest Articles

Private eye: using Facebook to discipline an employee

By Global Workplace Insider Team on April 11, 2017

The Supreme Court of Victoria’s decision of Jurecek v Director, Transport Safety Victoria [2016] VSC 285 clarifies the application of privacy law to an employee’s social media account, specifically in relation to an employer collecting and using information gathered from an employee’s Facebook account when investigating misconduct.…

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New codes introduced – Contractors must be aware of enterprise agreement risks

By Global Workplace Insider Team on April 3, 2017

The new national code for the tendering and performance of building work 2016 (Code 2016) commenced on 2 December 2016 to coincide with the re-establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). The governing legislation is the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act 2016 (Act). The Code 2016 applies to building contractors carrying out building work from the first time they submit an expression of interest or tender for Commonwealth funded building work…

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Misuse it and lose it

By Global Workplace Insider Team on November 7, 2016

A series of recent cases demonstrates that the Fair Work Commission (FWC) will, with increasing frequency, revoke or suspend union entry permits following findings of contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act). So far this year, in 3 separate cases, the FWC has suspended or revoked the entry permits of 7 officials of the CFMEU following findings that the union officials misused their right of entry permits. See Fair Work Commission v Roberts…

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When is going running in the course of employment?

By Global Workplace Insider Team on October 12, 2016

A worker who injured herself when she went for a run whilst working from home has had her application for workers compensation dismissed, but only on the basis that the injury did not occur during an ‘ordinary recess’. Background In Demasi v Comcare (Compensation) [2016] AATA 644 (26 August 2016), the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) heard that the applicant took a break from her work at 9.45am (on a day when she was working from…

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The latest from the Fair Work Commission on drug and alcohol policy breaches

By Global Workplace Insider Team on October 10, 2016

Last month, the Fair Work Commission upheld a decision to dismiss an employee for breaching its zero tolerance policy on illicit drugs, confirming the importance of having a clear drug and alcohol policy that is effectively communicated and consistently applied. The employer, Coles Group Supply Chain Pty Ltd (Coles), summarily dismissed Shane Clayton who tested positive to cannabis, in breach of Coles’ drug and alcohol policy, which clearly stipulated cut-off levels of alcohol intake and…

Global Workplace Insider

When will an employee’s “out of hours conduct” be a valid reason for dismissal?

By Global Workplace Insider Team on October 6, 2016

An employer generally does not have any right to direct how an employee conducts themselves outside of their employment. For an employee’s “out of hours conduct” to be a valid reason for dismissal, the conduct must have a relevant connection to the employment relationship. In the recent decision of Kedwell v Coal & Allied Mining Services Pty Limited T/A Mount Thorley Operations / Warkworth Mining [2016] FWC 6018, Commissioner Saunders of the Fair Work Commission…

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Continuous service: Prior casual service counts

By Global Workplace Insider Team on August 24, 2016

A majority of a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has recently held that for the purposes of calculating notice of termination and redundancy entitlements for permanent employees under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act), a prior contiguous period of regular and systematic service as a casual employee will count as service.…

Global Workplace Insider

Cashing out of annual leave now permitted by the majority of modern awards

By Global Workplace Insider Team on August 8, 2016

In a recent ground-breaking decision, the Fair Work Commission has varied the terms relating to annual leave that appear in the majority of modern awards (being the instruments that set out minimum employment terms and conditions for millions of Australians). The most controversial variation being the ability to cash out annual leave.…

Global Workplace Insider

Post-Election 2016 Briefing: Likely Amendments to the Fair Work Act

By Global Workplace Insider Team on July 14, 2016

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has claimed victory in the federal election, as the Coalition achieved the slim majority in Australia’s federal parliament. We briefly outline the likely key amendments to the Fair Work Act, as promised by the Coalition Government prior to the election, and other possible amendments to the workplace relations legislative framework.…

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A watershed case on the frontiers of union turf

By Global Workplace Insider Team on June 28, 2016

Earlier this month, a unanimous Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down a decision that is set to lay the landscape for the interpretation of union eligibility rules into the future.[1] In its reasons, the Full Bench provided critical guidance on how union eligibility rules should be interpreted. In particular, the Full Bench considered that the position adopted by the appellant, the Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union (RTBU), during…

Global Workplace Insider Team

Private eye: using Facebook to discipline an employee

New codes introduced – Contractors must be aware of enterprise agreement risks

Misuse it and lose it

When is going running in the course of employment?

The latest from the Fair Work Commission on drug and alcohol policy breaches

When will an employee’s “out of hours conduct” be a valid reason for dismissal?

Continuous service: Prior casual service counts

Cashing out of annual leave now permitted by the majority of modern awards

Post-Election 2016 Briefing: Likely Amendments to the Fair Work Act

A watershed case on the frontiers of union turf

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