General Questions

Can a prospective employer contact my current employer without my consent?

Can my employer force me to take annual leave while I’m on unpaid leave or WorkCover?

Do I have any post-engagement obligations as an independent contractor?

Do Unions always get it right?

Can my employer force me to return to the office, or can I continue to work from home?

Can I be dismissed because of absence from work due to illness or injury?

Can I be discriminated against by my employer for holding a criminal record?

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) prevents employers from discriminating against employees based on protected attributes. Whilst the list of protected attributes is exhaustive, neither of these legislations include the holding of a Criminal Record as a protected attribute, making criminal record holders particularly vulnerable during employment processes.

I have been personally affected by the bushfires; do I need to attend work and can I volunteer?

Natural disasters often result in employees requiring time off to care for themselves or their family. Employers should keep in mind the health and wellbeing of their staff when granting access to leave entitlements as state workplace health and safety laws provide for a general duty of care toward employees that should be considered.

I think that I was underpaid in a former job, do I have any rights?

Recently, there has been significant media attention on underpayments and ‘wage theft’. This may have led many employees to reflect on whether they were underpaid in previous employment. This leads to the question, are employers able to recover underpayments from former jobs?

I have been dismissed by my employer and have a strict restraint of trade clause. Does this clause still apply?

A restraint of trade clause will only apply to you if your employer can establish that it is ‘reasonable’. For the restraint to be ‘reasonable’ your employer must show that the restraint of trade clause is reasonably necessary to protect a legitimate interest of the employer’s business.

When does a criminal conviction justify dismissal?

Am I able to record conversations with managers / other employees?

Advances in modern technology make it extremely easy to covertly record conversations in the workplace with managers or other employees. The Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) and other legal precedence set limitations on when recordings can be used to support an employee’s case.