New Sick Leave Interpretation
The Federal Court has recently held that an employee who worked 36 hours a week, being three 12 hour shifts, was entitled to ten (10) days of sick leave each year, with each day of sick leave constituting 12 hours – this would therefore entitle such an employee to 120 hours of sick leave each year.
As a comparison, an employee who worked the same 36-hour week across five shifts per week (or 7.2 hours a day) would only accrue 72 hours of sick leave per year (10 x 7.2 hours).
The Morrison Government will seek leave, in the High Court, to appeal this decision, which has sparked confusion and uncertainty around the way sick and carers leave entitlements should be calculated.
Adverse Action – Terminated Employee awarded $200,000
A 61 year old employee who had been employed for 10 years and had lodged a bullying complaint against his newly appointed supervisor was awarded $205,342 in compensation after he was dismissed.
The court found that despite the employee having been put on a Performance Improvement Plan, the employer failed to discharge its onus of proof in demonstrating that the employee was terminated due to his poor performance and not due to the lodging of his bullying complaint (which constitutes a ‘workplace right’ under the law).
This case illustrates the importance of obtaining professional advice before taking any steps to terminate an employee’s employment, even when it may appear that an employer has clear and valid grounds for doing so.
90% of Payroll Personnel find workplace laws confusing
A survey conducted by the Australian Payroll Association found that 89% of payroll personnel were unsure how to apply workplace laws to real-world situations because they were unclear on how to interpret the wording of Modern Awards and the law.
This survey comes on the back of a string of underpayment stings from the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO). Sunglass Hut recently admitted to underpaying part-time employees due to confusion about overtime, and Bunnings claimed a payroll error was to blame for incorrectly contributing to current and former part-time employees’ superannuation funds.
Wesfarmers’ industrial division recently revealed they underpaid up to 6,000 current and former employees $15 million due to a reportedly inadvertent error picked up during their upgrade to the single touch payroll system.
Time for a HR Document review?
With recent and regular changes to the Fair Work Act and Modern Awards, it might be time for some housekeeping within your organisation.
If you looking to have your Employment Agreements, HR Manuals and Policies and Procedures Handbooks all reviewed and updated to ensure that they comply with the law, contact us to discuss how we can assist you with such a review.
