Fair Work Act and Employment Law: Case Studies and Problem Solving

This assignment provides solutions to several employment law problems based on the Fair Work Act 2009. It addresses scenarios related to remuneration, including employee dismissal, plant shutdowns, and wage payments. The assignment also covers working hours and leave, examining flexible working arrangements, maximum working hours, and entitlements to annual leave and public holiday concessions. Cases such as Koehler v Cerebos and Steven Patrick Dennis v Norwegian Refugee Council are referenced to provide context on the effects of excessive working hours. The analysis incorporates relevant sections of the Fair Work Act to provide legal justification for the solutions presented.

Running head: EMPLOYMENT LAW
Employment Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Chapter 10: Remuneration
Problem 2
1. When it is related to the Crocs Farms Ltd. the Management has the authority to take
decisions based on the Fair Work Act, 2009. In this case, the issue is whether any of the
employees can be sent home without pay while the operational issues and problems get
solved. As per Division 8 Section 108-111 of the Fair Work Act, 2009 can be exercised and
applied by the employee. It states that notice and evidence requirements must be served.
Hence, if the employees are sent home without paying then the employer should provide
sufficient notice to the employee. Further Section 164 of the Fair Work Act, 2009 can also
be applied based on the circumstances faced by the employees. Therefore, the Management
can should serve notice to the employees if they are asked to terminate. Such a situation can
also be treated as an unfair dismissal of employees.
2. In the given scenario, it has been observed the staff associated in the manufacturing plant is
covered by an enterprise agreement. The plant therefore broke down but continued to work
and operate. The Management decided to close the plant for a period of seven days for
maintenance (Harpur and Burdon 2016). In these circumstances, it is the duty of the
management to provide a notice stating the facts and points for shutting down the plant. It is
the duty of the management to inform the staff and employees before the work.
3. Workers of a restaurant were charged with food poisoning. The occurrence of this situation
is because the workers failed to keep the food preparation area clean. In these circumstances,
the Management can exercise its power and authority based on the relevant sections of the
Fair Work Act, 2001. The employees cannot ask for compensation because due to their
negligence the customers had suffered and restaurant went through loss (Blanpain and
Bisom-Rapp 2014).

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Problem 3
1. From the facts of the scenario, it can be stated that Wally was on leave because a former
research assistant accused him of research misconduct. He was the professor of an university
in Brisbane. However, he was on a leave for three months. Those leaves were treated to be
paid leaves. The image of Wally will not get damaged if he can return back to work on time.
As per Section 111 of the Fair Work Act, 2009, payment is provided to employees on jury
service as well. However, it can be said that Wally can return back to work after a period of
three months leave. The Fair Work Act, 2009 further establishes the facts that if any
employee is accused of such allegations then Wally can refer to the above mentioned act.
After receiving the paid leaves, joining the University will not be a problem for Wally.
Problem 4
1. As per the case scenario, Kris was working with his family and running a motel and
restaurant for a period of three years. The payment is made to Kris in cash. Receiving
payments in cash is not acceptable as there will be no evidence on the payment. If the
payments are made to the employees in cheques then it will be treated as a proof that the
payment is made. Hence, Kris should not further take any payment in cash.
2. There must be a written record of regarding the payment of wages. Wages provided must
be given in a written format because it serves as a proof of the fact that the wages are cleared
to the employees (Painter and Holmes 2015). Kris being an employee of their motel and
restaurant should be able to keep a track of the payment that is made to them.
3. In a situation when the motel is closed for a month because she will be go on holidays with
her parents then she will therefore be entitled in receiving her pay for the next two weeks.
This must be accepted by Kris since the motel itself will be closed and there will be no

3EMPLOYMENT LAW
business during that time. Hence, Kris will not be able to ask for remuneration up to six
weeks.
4. The issue of this scenario states that Kris had asked her parents to take out her insurance
premium since she eats oftenly at the restaurant (Correa‐Velez, Barnett and Gifford 2015).
This will be not be accepted since she had already made a blanket of written authority stating
that the bills should be deduct the bills from her pay. Since this was already mentioned, Kris
cannot ask for this.
5. If Kris gets over paid by her parents then it is her duty to return it back to the parents or
inform them about it and not get it deducted from her next pay by using the blanket authority
as per the remuneration act.
Chapter 11: Working hours and leave
Problem 2
1. June was an aged mother at home. She had requested her employer for making reasonable
adjustments to her working hours. As per Division 4, Section 65 of the Fair Work Act, 2009,
it can be stated that in the national workplace relations systems has a legal right for
requesting flexible working arrangements. An employee is eligible to ask for it if she has
worked for that employer for a period of 12 months. Therefore, June will have the right to
request for flexible arrangements by making a formal written request. However, the request
might also be refused or rejected by the employer in writing within a period of 21 days.
2. If the appeal request of June is refused by the employer then she can go to the Fair Work
Commission for assistance if the employer has agreed to. A conference can thereafter be held
by the Fair Work Commission for finding a solution for resolving the issues between the
employer and the employee. Therefore, if the employer takes any kind of adverse action

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against June, it will be treated to be as illegal on part of the employer because the request was
made to Fair Work Commission.
3. If the employer does not provide with a response to June in a timely manner then she has to
apply and request her employer again by producing reasonable grounds based on which the
employer will look into the matter.
Problem 3
1. In the case of Koehler v Cerebos, the employers were informed about some of the reasons
for giving due consideration to the effects of excessive work hours. The workers or
employees of the company were stressed due to over time working hours as it has been
mentioned in the case (Austen, Jefferson and Preston 2013). The employees working for the
organization had developed a psychiatric illness that was caused to them during the course of
their employment. The employee suffered from the illness due to the negligence and duty of
care on part of the employer. The common law of duty for providing a safe system of work
was breached. The employees anyway had to do over time and suffered the illness due to the
carelessness of he employer.
2. Another case that provides a similar perspective on long working hours is Steven Patrick
Dennis v Norwegian Refugee Council. This case discussed the facts that the employee was
made to work for long hours. Long working hours result in stress among the employees. The
employer is usually held liable for making them work for long stressful hours.
3. According to the Division 3, Section 62-64 of the Fair Work Act, 2009 discusses the
regulation of maximum working hours of the employees. Every employee working in an
organization can exercise their rights by applying the above mentioned relevant sections of

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the Fair Work Act. In case of additional working hours, employees can request for flexible
working arrangements to the employer.
Problem 4
1. As per the Fair Work Act, 2009, David being an employee can request for concession if
David is asked to work on Christmas even if he has provided notices to Big Ben Department
Store Ltd (Cortis and Meagher 2012). After his request, if David’s employer threatens him
for not working then David can sent a written complaint to the Fair Work Commission
regarding the threaten. David can exercise the rights as he is entitled to them.
2. Sharon will be entitled to the annual leaves if she has worked routinely even on Sundays
and public holidays at Big Ben. In such a situation, Section 87 of the Fair Work Act, 2009
can be applied. It states that an employee is entitled to annual leaves. This relevant section
discusses that every shift worker is entitled to receive five weeks of annual leave per annum
(Layton, Smith and Stewart 2014).
3. James wanted to take all his annual leaves at one go for an overseas trip, therefore, in this
scenario Section 113 of Division 9 of the Fair Work Act, 2009 must be applicable by James.
Therefore, as per the legislation, an employee is entitled to all the long service leaves in
accordance with their applicable and pre-modernized award.

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References:
Austen, S., Jefferson, T. and Preston, A., 2013. Contrasting economic analyses of equal
remuneration: The social and community services (SACS) case. Journal of Industrial
Relations, 55(1), pp.60-79.
Blanpain, R. and Bisom-Rapp, S., 2014. Global Workplace: International and Comparative
Employment Law Cases and Materials. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Colvin, A.J., 2014. Book Review: Rediscovering Collective Bargaining: Australia's Fair
Work Act in International Perspective.
Correa‐Velez, I., Barnett, A.G. and Gifford, S., 2015. Working for a better life: Longitudinal
evidence on the predictors of employment among recently arrived refugee migrant men living
in Australia. International Migration, 53(2), pp.321-337.
Cortis, N. and Meagher, G., 2012. Recognition at last: Care work and the equal remuneration
case. Journal of Industrial Relations, 54(3), pp.377-385.
Harpur, P. and Burdon, M., 2016. Workplace Laws and Workplace Rights Under the Fair
Work Act 2017 (Cth): What About Information Privacy?.
Layton, R., Smith, M. and Stewart, A., 2014. Equal remuneration under the Fair Work Act
2014.
Painter, R. and Holmes, A., 2015. Cases and materials on Employment Law. Oxford
University Press, USA.
Pekarek, A., Landau, I., Gahan, P., Forsyth, A. and Howe, J., 2017. Old game, new rules?
The dynamics of enterprise bargaining under the Fair Work Act. Journal of Industrial
Relations, 59(1), pp.44-64.

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Stewart, A. and Stanford, J., 2017. Regulating work in the gig economy: What are the
options?. The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 28(3), pp.420-437.