WorksheetsWorkplace HSC Legal Studies
Total questions: 11
Worksheet time: 6mins
Mark is a full-time employee. Mark tells his boss Dani that he needs to take leave for the next 2 days to care for his sick child. It’s a very busy time for the business so this really annoys Dani.
When Mark returns to work, Dani advises him that she has made him part-time. She tells Mark this will assist him to manage his caring responsibilities.
In these circumstances are Dani’s actions:
Okay
Not Okay
Ben runs a small business with 5 full-time staff. He needs to terminate an employee for poor performance. He wants to make sure he is following the Fair Work Act including unfair dismissal laws.
What should he do?
Provide the appropriate amount of notice and unpaid wages
Provide the reasons for the termination in writing and provide this to the employee
Follow the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code
All of the above
Casey had worked for her employer for 2 years and was been performing well. She had recently been given some additional duties. She didn’t receive proper training and had been struggling to complete the new tasks properly. Her employer decided to terminate her for not doing the job properly.
Could this be considered an unfair dismissal?
No
Possibly
Workchoices
is the name given to legislation made in 1996
is the name given to legislation made in 2005
made it harder to dismiss employees
is an example of left wing government policy
Under Workchoices, unfair dismissal claims were permitted for
employers of less than 100 employees
operational reasons
dismissal which was harsh, unjust or unreasonable
The case of Village Cinemas Australia Pty Ltd v. Carter (2007) is an example of
Unfair dismissal
Fair dismissal because of the Workplace Relations Act
Many reasons for dismissing the workers, and operational reasons being one of them, therefore legal dismissal
The Fair Work Act
the Judge said ‘it would be a rare occasion that an employer could not construct a situation where an operational reason would provide the reason, or one of the reasons for the termination’. This was the case of
Village Cinemas v. Carter
Campagna v. Priceline
Thompson v. Big Bert
Barclay v. Bendigo TAFE
In the case of Cowra Abattoir, 2006
the workers were discriminated against
the workers were dismissed, then some were offered their jobs back on lower pay
the Fair Work Act declared it to be unfair dismissal
WorkChoices protected the employer
the case of Thompson v Big Bert Pty Ltd case
was an example of direct discrimination
was an example of indirect discrimination
was an example of unfair dismissal
showed that constructive dismissal is hard to prove
The Fair Dismissal Code
requires employers to warn employees that they risk dismissal
enables workers a reasonable period of time to correct the problem
enables claims for workers employed for less than 12 months
is an initiative of the Workplace Relations Act 1996
The Small Business Fair Dismissal Code
balances the rights of employers by protecting small businesses
means that employers with less than 20 employees are not subject to the fair dismissal code
means that workers can claim for unfair dismissal if they are dismissed in the first six months
