Employment is governed by rules and regulations set out in an award, registered agreement or an employment contract.
Regardless of your employment status, that is whether you’re employed on a full time, part time, casual or contract basis, you will be permitted to some sort of entitlements.
Being made redundant can be an incredibly stressful time for any employee. With all the upheaval, it can be unclear what rights you have available to you as an employee. While the process of seeing through a redundancy can be quite complex, it is important to understand what you are entitled to in order to ensure you receive what you are duly owed.
In Australia, it is most common that an employer will have absolute discretion to decide whether an employee is entitled to receive a bonus or pay rise.
Generally speaking, under s 101 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) employees are not allowed cash out sick leave unless their modern award or enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) contain specific terms which allows for sick leave to be paid out on termination of employment.
Generally bonuses and commission payments arise from a contract of employment. Accordingly, if bonuses or commissions remain due an employee has a right under their contract to recover these amounts.
Further, section 323 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) applies to ‘incentive-based payments and bonuses’ meaning there may also be a breach of the Fair Work Act 2009.
It is commonplace for an employee to fall pregnant again while on maternity leave for their first pregnancy. In this case, an employee may request an extension of their maternity leave, depending on how long the original period granted to them was for.
It is not uncommon for employees to own shares in their employer. This can take various forms, for example as part of a share scheme or following a purchase of shares, and your legal position in relation to your shares upon resignation will largely depend on the terms of the shareholder agreement. Your legal position will also depend on whether you own the shares, or if your ownership is contingent on a future event.
It is commonplace for employees to be required to travel interstate as part of their work. As a result, you may have been injured in the course of your employment whilst outside of your home State. Such injury typically gives rise to Workers’ Compensation entitlements, however, the identification of the relevant State law can be problematic in such circumstances.
It is common that couples, either one or both of them, will take unpaid parental leave when expecting a new addition to their family. In order to take unpaid parental leave, you, as the employee, need to give sufficient notice to your employer.
Deed of Release (DOR) is a written statement that once signed becomes a legally binding document. By signing a deed of release, an employee agrees to ‘release’ their employer from current or future legal claims and an employer agrees to perform a certain act or pay certain entitlements that will benefit the employee.
With increasing workloads and the adoption of flexible working arrangements, more and more of us are conducting work from our own homes. Commonly, we think very little of taking work-related material out of the office, often emailing ourselves the relevant information.
Redundancy is a far more complex concept than most people know. Even judges get it wrong. There is no substitute for sound legal advice but here is a start.
Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (‘Fair Work legislation’) all employers need to comply with the minimum requirements set in the National Employment Standards (‘NES’) and any relevant industrial award.
This is your best guide to the complex Fair Work Act. It makes navigating the act easy.
Everyone's situation is different but...
Fair Work Act 2009 - protection and compensation
Read how this act applies to your situation.
Dealing with misleading conduct by your employer
The Competition and Consumer Act plays an important role...
See a list of courts and other institutions.
