FWC Archives | NRA Legal

COVID Controversy: Obtaining pandemic-relevant information from employees

By Rebecca Goulter | 08/10/2020

An white circular sign with the letter 'i' in the middle - an information sign

As businesses navigate the challenges of ensuring the health and safety of their customers and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, they must be careful to avoid infringing upon the privacy…

FWC finds the limits to JobKeeper stand downs

By Rebecca Goulter | 07/07/2020

a close up photo of a simple calendar with red crosses over the majority of the dates

The Fair Work Commission has, for the first time in the short life of the JobKeeper jurisdiction, tested exactly how far a JobKeeper stand down direction can go in reducing…

Fair Work Commission hands down first COVID-19 related redundancy pay decisions

By Rebecca Goulter | 21/04/2020

A close of photo of someone counting Australian money while holding a pen in their right hand.

The Fair Work Commission has set the benchmark for employers seeking to reduce the amount of redundancy pay payable to employees who were made redundant due to a downturn in business…

Fair Work Commission proceedings: Head in the sand, or head in the game?

By Rebecca Goulter | 10/03/2020

An image of a man in a black suit and black leather shoes with his entire hand in the sand as the rest of his body is kneeling on the sand.

Receiving notice of any legal proceedings is enough to make the blood run cold of most business owners and HR professionals. For many, the process of defending such an application…

If an employee gets high can we say goodbye? Not necessarily, says the FWC

By Rebecca Goulter | 06/01/2020

A close up image of a patch of smoke blown out from someone's mouth from smoking.

Employers often spruik their ‘zero tolerance’ drug and alcohol policies when trumpeting their safety and workplace processes and cultures. However, the Fair Work Commission has also been promoting a ‘zero…

Defective workplace investigations

By Rebecca Goulter | 13/08/2019

a broken black magnifying glass with small shards of glass to the left of the photo, The background consists of two landscape rectangles, the top is an off white, and the bottom is black.

Fair Work Commission losing patience over defective workplace investigations By Lucy Harper and Calum Woods, NRA Legal Please note, this decision was quashed by the Full Bench of the Commission on 11…

Drinks after work: from legless to jobless

By Rebecca Goulter | 06/08/2019

A photograph of seven different wine/alcohol glasses laid out in a row with an overlay of an orange tinge.

When getting legless can lead to being jobless: lessons learned from after-work drinks By Thomas Parer and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal Employers and employees are starting to realise that grabbing…

Workplace bullying costs business

By Rebecca Goulter | 30/07/2019

An image of little white game markers laid out randomly on a surface, with one red game marker knocked over in the crowd of the white ones.

Since its introduction in 2013, the Fair Work Commission’s anti-bullying jurisdiction has attracted its fair share of commentary. Of the 700 anti-bullying applications filed last year, a total of 53…

Writing’s on the wall for outdated employment contracts

By Lindsay Carroll | 15/07/2019

a black fountain pen with a gold tip lying down on a piece of paper titled 'contract of employment'.

Playing musical chairs with an employment contract can be risky business. This usually happens when an employee doesn’t return a signed contract when starting a new job, and their employer…