Adverse Action

Featured image for “Performance Management That Holds Up” showing an office desk with a laptop, performance charts, workflow documents and reports.

Performance Management That Holds Up: Why a Valid Reason Is Only Half the Defence

Compliance /

An engineer with thirty years’ experience was dismissed for genuinely substandard work. Missed deadlines. Quality problems. A welding error that halted a production line.  The Fair Work Commission accepted there was a valid reason to dismiss him. He won anyway — and was awarded compensation of $21,471.15 plus superannuation — because the employer had no formal performance management process and gave him

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Featured image showing a manager reviewing probation documents with a new employee, representing probation management, performance discussions, and employer obligations under the Fair Work Act.

Probation Done Properly: What Employer Obligations Under the Fair Work Act Really Mean

Compliance, Uncategorized /

Probation is not a legal safe zone. Ending employment during probation removes unfair dismissal exposure — but not a general protections claim, a discrimination complaint, or a breach of contract. Getting the fundamentals right keeps you out of trouble.  What’s the real issue?  Employers routinely confuse two very different things:  A contractual probation period — a creature of contract

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Featured image showing legal scales, a shield with people icons, workplace documents, and silhouettes of employees, representing general protections claims and Fair Work Commission case management for Australian employers.

General Protections Claims: What the Fair Work Commission’s New Case Management Means for Australian Employers

Compliance /

The Fair Work Commission has overhauled how general protections claims are run, and the shift favours prepared employers. Representation is decided “on the papers” before conference; out-of-time applications are triaged before you are served; conciliation is a fast 60-minute, resolution-only session; and a new Early Dispute Resolution (EDR) pilot tests informal settlement calls soon after lodgement. The reforms reward preparation

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