Category: Industrial & Employment Law

A Position Description Doesn’t Determine Union Membership
A recent full bench decision of the Fair Work Commission has determined that it is more than just a person’s position description that determines a person’s primary purpose of employment….

Federal Court clarifies the meaning of “organising” in respect of industrial action
Until recently the word ‘organising’ in an industrial relations context has been widely used but not defined. In a recent decision from the Federal Court of Australia, Justice White said…

After facing deregistration, Hall Payne helps NT teacher keep his job
An NT teacher faced deregistration after an inquiry into his private life. Hall Payne successfully defended the matter, helping the teacher keep his job.

Is it true? Or did you read it in the Courier Mail?
Hall Payne develops a novel legal strategy to obtain documents leaked to the Courier Mail and how they got them in the first place. News Limited also had to pay…

Win for QNMU members, Court finds no irregularity in ANMF election
In a win for QNMU and ANMF members, the Federal Court has ruled there were no irregularities in the 2015 ANMF election for the position of Federal President and Federal…

Fair Work Commission highlights the need for proper, clear drafting of agreements
The recent decision of the Full Bench in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in Kentz Pty Ltd v Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of…

QIRC accepts Direction after Inaccurate Training amounted to Unreasonable Management Action
The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission has accepted that an employer’s conduct surrounding inaccurate No Go Zone training was unreasonable management action that caused miner’s injury.

Court finds no reasonable prospect of success as ABCC case dropped
The Federal Court has found in favour of the CFMEU, with yet another ABCC case dropped after it was deemed they had no reasonable prospects of success. In October 2016…

Pre litigation discovery the first step to enforcing Agreement terms and conditions
After suspecting an Agreement had been breached, our client, the ETU, had limited options moving forward because the relevant project was complete. With the use of pre litigation discovery, we…

Federal Court finds CFMEU has right to hold discussions in crib room
The Federal Court has approved the CFMEU’s interpretation of the Fair Work Act, rejecting BMA’s arguments and finding the union had a right to hold discussion in the dragline’s crib…

Undertakings Deemed Insufficient as Agreement fails Better Off Overall Test
After more than two years of proceedings, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has held that undertakings will not resolve deficiencies where an Agreement fails the Better Off…

Rare QCAT Costs Order awarded against NMBA after refusal to settle
Our client admitted allegations of professional misconduct brought by the Nurisng and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) and sought to settle the matter. The NMBA refused, with the matter going…