ER Update | Fair Work Commission News Roundup

12th December 2014

Here is a roundup of the news and events from the Australian Fair Work Commission.

Unfair dismissals and general protections

The Fair Work Commission has published the Quarterly Reports for the period ending 30 June and the first quarter of 2014/2015, detailing the number of unfair dismiisal and general protection applications received and how they are managed. In summary, between 1 April and 30 September 2014 there were:

• 7,146 unfair dismissal applications
• Less than 2% of all applications were granted an order for compensation or reinstatement
• 1658 general protection order applications
• 79% of general protection applications are settled by conciliation

Anti-bullying claims

The Commission continued to deal with claims of workplace bullying over the six months between 1 April and 30 September 2014. The Commission has published Quarterly Reports on how it has managed the applications for orders to stop or prevent workplace bullying. Interestingly, there were:

• 381 anti-workplace bullying disputes notified the the Commission
• 28 decisions were made
• 0 orders to stop workplace bullying were issued (Yes, that’s correct … no workplace bullying found!)

Modern Award Review

The Fair Work Commission 4-Yearly Review of Modern Awards will enter it’s second year of deliberations in 2015 with no end in sight. One of the more interesting developments in the Review has been the role of the Fair Work Ombudsman, which has asked the Commission to rectify award provisions that conflict with the National Employment Standards. As readers will know, modern awards cannot include terms that exclude, detract from, or are inconsistent with the provisions of the National Employment Standards. The Commission has published the list of alleged inconsistencies with the modern award terms for comment. It is interesting reading and one would expect that the Commission will address these issues in due course. See the Summary of Alleged Inconsistencies by Award published by the Commission and the 4-Yearly Modern Award Review website for further details.

Part-day public holidays

The Fair Work Commission has varied all modern awards updating the entitlements to part-day public holidays between 7pm and midnight on Christmas and New Years Eve this year. The part-day holidays were originally awarded in 2012 and effectively extend public holiday penalty payments to employees that work during these times. Employees that are normally scheduled to work during these hours are entitled to the time off without loss of pay. These provisions will impact mainly on retail, tourism and hospitality businesses that operate normally at those times of the year. It won’t affect normal Christmas close-down arrangements.
Check Schedule E of the modern award that applies to your business for specific details or view the Determination issued by the Commission with the list of varied awards.