59 items from our lawyers filed under HR Engage Article.
“Every time we try to manage this employee, they make another complaint.” A complaint about their manager. A complaint about their workload. A complaint about their pay. A complaint about how their performance is being m…
“I’m not bullying them. I’m managing them.” It is a sentence most experienced leaders have heard. And sometimes the manager is absolutely right. Performance management isn’t bullying. A difficult conversation isn’t bully…
“It was just banter.” Four words that can create a very big problem for an employer. I am not suggesting that we need to remove humour from the workplace. People joke. People swear. People give each other a hard time. So…
$887,690 versus $341,213. Two employee costing models. One was more than $500,000 cheaper. Which one do you think the business chose? The cheaper one. There was just one fairly significant problem. It didn’t include thin…
“We need to restructure, but the employee whose position is affected is on parental leave. Can we still make them redundant?” What if they are on long-term sick leave? Or workers’ compensation? The answer in each case is…
It depends. And the biggest risk probably isn’t unfair dismissal. “Can I sack an employee who has been here for 15 years?” The short answer? Yes. There is no rule in Australian employment law that says someone becomes “u…
It usually doesn’t start with a termination letter. A General Protections claim rarely begins on the day someone gets fired. More often? It starts months earlier. A complaint gets brushed off. A manager gets irritated. A…
Not every tough manager is a bully. Managers are expected to set standards, hold people accountable and address underperformance. Difficult conversations are part of leadership. But there is a line. And once that line is…
A contractor and a customer have been ordered to pay $116,000 after sexually harassing a worker. The unique part? Neither of them worked as an employee for the employer. The decision of Eklom v Marshall [2026] FedCFamC2G…
For years, restructures and redundancies have largely been viewed as HR and industrial relations processes. Consultation obligations. Redeployment considerations. Selection criteria. Communications strategy. But what hap…
A Queensland Supreme Court decision is another reminder that workplace injuries do not need to leave a worker completely incapacitated for employers to face substantial compensation exposure. In Singleton v Direct Person…
$180,000 Fine. A Finger Injury. And A Workplace Already Prosecuted Multiple Times Before. There is a dangerous assumption some businesses still make about workplace safety: “If nobody was seriously hurt this time, it pro…
$395,000 In Penalties Alone against an owner and manager. $802,000! Bubble Tea “Cashbacks”. False Records. And Migrant Workers Underpaid At Adelaide Eateries. Another Fair Work Ombudsman prosecution has landed with serio…
There’s a dangerous assumption I see in workplaces all the time: “If we don’t act, we can’t get it wrong.” This case shows why that thinking is flawed. In Mitri v Fire Rescue Victoria [2026] FedCFamC2G 495 (30 March 2026…
An Employer successfully defends a general protections claim… and still ended up paying $176,250? Why? What happened? The Federal Circuit and Family Court decision in Lord v Toll Transport Pty Ltd [2026] FedCFamC2G 348 (…
Accusing an employee of theft is one of the most serious steps an employer can take. It is the kind of allegation that almost always leads to summary dismissal. But what happens when the evidence does not stack up? A dec…
The Fair Work Commission recently dismissed a case, described the legal arguments as “incoherent”, found the applicant had misrepresented what his contract said, and then invited the employer to apply for costs. To be cl…
Performance management has always been treated as a core HR function. Set expectations. Address underperformance. Improve outcomes. But that traditional view is now incomplete. In today’s regulatory environment, performa…
If an employee uses their company email to apply for another job, can you fire them on the spot? One employer thought the answer was yes. The Fair Work Commission had a very different view. A single email. A resume attac…
If your organisation’s primary defence to a sexual harassment claim is “we have online training modules,” it may not be enough. The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission decision, Loquias v The Star Entertainment Gr…
For HR leaders and Employers in Australia managing international workforces, one of the most misunderstood questions is this: When does the Fair Work Act apply to employees working overseas? A recent Fair Work Commission…
If you are still treating flexible work requests as a policy issue rather than a legal risk, you may be exposed. Nearly three (3) years after the Fair Work Commission was given power to arbitrate disputes about refused f…
Most employment law issues do not come out of nowhere. They usually build quietly in the background. An outdated contract. A pay assumption that has never been tested. A complaint that is handled informally because every…
Employment law in 2026 is less about new buzzwords and more about execution. Can your payroll withstand payday super? Are your redundancy processes genuinely defensible? Do your contracts still do what you think they do?…
The Fair Work Commission has again confirmed that the day to day reality of a working relationship will outweigh any contract terms describing a worker as a casual. Fair Work Commission case Richard McLeish v GNM Austral…
Sexual harassment remains one of the most serious and preventable risks in Australian workplaces. Recent reforms, increased public awareness, and the shift toward a positive duty to eliminate harmful behaviour mean emplo…
HR managers and Heads of HR are often at the frontline when it comes to workforce classification, contract design, and compliance. The Federal Court decision in Fair Work Ombudsman v Doll House Training Pty Ltd (No 2) [2…
The Modern Workplace Bullying Dilemma Workplace bullying isn’t new but how we perceive it is changing fast. In an era of hybrid work, constant performance pressure and a sharper awareness of psychological safety, even ro…
An employee said the boss’s micromanagement drove him to quit. The FWC said otherwise and HR teams should take note. What happened – Mr Cooper Lynch v Mcpherson Window Cleaning Pty. Ltd. & Mr Paul McIntyre [2025] FWC 268…
The Fair Work Commission’s decision in Sewell v dnata Airport Services Pty Ltd [2025] FWC 2823 is a wake-up call for every HR team managing sexual harassment complaints. At the heart of the case was the employer’s handli…
Written Employment Contracts may sound like a boring part of HR and business. When it comes to employment relationships, unclear or incomplete contracts are a recipe for disputes. Courts are increasingly willing to step …
Ok, Ok maybe it is going a bit too far. But this is a question that needs to be asked and answered for every Board, Executive and HR team. Do we have payroll under control? Because of recent cases (which may be appealed)…
When an employee told a colleague, “why don’t you go get molested…”, it was the final straw for his employer. But while the behaviour was appalling, the Fair Work Commission still ruled his dismissal unfair because of th…
Can an employee’s “off-the-clock” Facebook rant really put their job at risk? In today’s workplaces, the answer is increasingly yes. Social media has blurred the lines between professional and personal life, and organisa…
Imagine making what you thought was a watertight redundancy decision only to have the High Court declare it invalid years later. That’s exactly what happened in Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd v Bartley [2025] HCA 29, where the…
It started with a pink bag on a bus and ended with an unfair dismissal claim. A cleaner with over two decades of experience without incident, was carrying out his normal duties, only to be accused of misappropriating los…
A major change in workplaces has seen the Government introduce and now implement, as of 26 August 2024, the new Right to Disconnect laws. The aim of this legislation is to foster work-life balance for employees however, …
Reasonable and lawful directions. With the onset of Psychosocial Risks and Hazards legislation, an increase in mental health claims, exposure, disclosure, discussion and risk management the issue of medical evidence beco…
The Federal Court of Australia has delivered a timely reminder that reasonable notice is still in play. In the recent decision of Cropper v Energy Action (Australia) Pty Ltd (No 2) [2025] FCA 663 (Cropper Case) the Court…
Work from Home and Flexible Working Arrangements – potentially 20, 15 or even 10 years ago, this was seldom used. However, as part of the ever-changing workplace and evolving workforce, Flexible Working Arrangements seem…
Redundancies are often challenging for both employers and employees. But under Australia’s Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), a redundancy won’t be considered genuine if there’s a reasonable opportunity for the employee to be red…
Redundancy, especially during a crisis, is a challenging aspect of Human Resources (HR) management. Ensuring compliance with Australian Employment Law is not only a legal obligation, but it also protects an Employer and …
In Australia, redundancy pay is governed by the National Employment Standards (NES) under the Fair Work Act 2009. A notable aspect of these provisions is that redundancy pay entitlements decrease after 10 years of contin…
Workplace employment relationships “akin to employment” can be found on an almost daily basis as workplaces continue to evolve. Some examples include: Labour hire; Independent contractors; and Volunteers. The question th…
The changing face of modern workplaces still requires management of people. Managing remote teams creates complexities not really seen before. An area on the rise in the context of remote work is Workplace Bullying claim…
Legitimate performance management because of an employee’s work performance can be a long process. However, it is integral to do so, as performance management is about looking for improvement in the performance of an ind…
Continued evolution in sexual harassment in the workplace now firmly identifies sexual harassment as a workplace health and safety issue. The Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation 2024 (Regulati…
The Fair Work Ombudsman has been busy with underpayment of wages problems with several workplaces including big names such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The Fair Ombudsman have taken this to another level securi…
With systems, automation, processes, and AI continuing to dominate the workplace now and into the foreseeable future, the Fair Work Commission has reminded all Employers and HR teams that the legal obligations when it co…
NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) has had a lot of media and business attention for many years. The human resources and employment law elements of NDIS workplace operations are no different – it also can demons…
Pranks in some workplaces are a way to galvanise a team or a group of people as well as having a bit of fun. But in other workplaces (and some might say in most places) this has the opposite effect. Australia Post and a …
Long service leave in Queensland and to some extent in other states in Australia is an entitlement to reward long-serving employees. Long service leave entitlements in Queensland crystallise after 10 years, however, it c…
Sexual harassment has undergone a number of changes in recent times: The extension of powers of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner An ability for employees to make an application for a stop sexual harassment order in th…
Flexible work arrangements are another hot topic for human resources teams in workplaces. Any request for a flexible work arrangement creates a workplace right for an employee. However, Employers can refuse a request if …
Forced Resignation, when an employee decides to resign from employment, especially during complaints and grievances being made or a performance improvement process, can the Employer still be held liable? Forced resignati…
Written employment contracts are almost a given in every employment relationship. It is integral to have in place a written employment contract that has basic terms and conditions that go beyond salary and job descriptio…
Bullying is often associated with either peers or superiors targeting subordinates (downward bullying), it can also occur in the opposite direction, known as “upward bullying.” Recently, we have had several Managing Dire…
As an Employer and part of the HR team, you have made the difficult (and maybe sometimes not so difficult) decision to terminate the employment of an employee. Expectedly or unexpectedly you have received an unfair dismi…
Psychosocial Risks and Hazards Workplace health and safety legislation change has further evolved from a focus on physical safety (knee injuries, near misses and serious injury) to renewed focus on mental illness and men…
