TL2004 Labour Law: Q&A on Fair Work & Workplace Relations Act

This document presents a comprehensive question and answer format Labour Law exam. It addresses key aspects of Australian labour legislation, including the Workplace Relations Act 1996 and the Fair Work Act 2009. The Q&A covers employee rights regarding payslips, minimum wage entitlements, and employer obligations for record keeping. Specific topics include mandatory payslip provisions, record maintenance requirements, and the role of the Fair Work Ombudsman. The exam also explores scenarios related to minimum wage compliance and potential remedies for employees facing underpayment issues. The document provides detailed explanations and references to relevant legislation, offering a thorough overview of Australian labour law principles. Desklib offers a platform for students to access similar solved assignments and past papers.

Running head: LABOUR LAW
Q & A on Labour Law
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

1LABOUR LAW
Table of Contents
Part A: Question 1......................................................................................................................2
Answer to (a)..........................................................................................................................2
Answer to (b)..........................................................................................................................2
Answer to (c)..........................................................................................................................3
Answer to (d)..........................................................................................................................4
Answer to (e)..........................................................................................................................5
Part A: Question 2......................................................................................................................5
Answer to (a)..........................................................................................................................5
Answer to (b)..........................................................................................................................6
Answer to (c)..........................................................................................................................7
Answer to (d)..........................................................................................................................7
Part B: Question 3......................................................................................................................8
Part B: Question 4....................................................................................................................11
Part B: Question 5....................................................................................................................14
Reference:................................................................................................................................17

2LABOUR LAW
Part A: Question 1
Answer to (a)
In Australia, there are several legislations that are acting for protecting the interest
of the employees and certain rules are mentioned which are required to be followed up by the
employees as well as employers. Workplace Relations Act 1996 and Fair work Act 2009 are
some of the examples of this legislation1. According to the Fair work Ombudsman, pay slip is
an important thing and is required to be provided to every employee within a working day
and that working day must be his or her pay day2. The rules of payslip are applied to those
employees also who are on leave. There are two different forms of providing pay slips such
as electronic form and hard copy. Certain rules are mentioned under the act regarding the
formation of pay slip and the employers are bound to maintain the rules accordingly.
However, there are certain provisions too which have empowered the employers to deduce
certain amount from the employee’s pay. According to the Workplace Relations Act 1996,
the deduction can be done by way of registered agreement3. It has also been stated under the
Act that an employer can provide electronic payslips to the employees. It is the duty of the
employers to see that every employee can get an access to the payslips on private basis. if an
employer has failed to provide pay slip according to the rules, he or she will be held liable
under the Fair Work Act 2009.
1 James, Natalie, and Fair Work Ombudsman. "Commonwealth of Australia." (2015).
2 Kavanagh, Megan, and Emily McRae. "Employment law: Protecting vulnerable workers amendment to fair work
act." Governance Directions 69.4 (2017): 241.
3 Layton, Robyn, Meg Smith, and Andrew Stewart. "Equal remuneration under the Fair Work Act 2009." (2014).

3LABOUR LAW
Answer to (b)
Under the Fair Work regulation and the Fair Work Act 2009, there are certain basic
provisions which must be included under the pay slip of an employee. The provisions can be
categorised as follows:
The name and ABN of the employer should be mentioned in the pay slips. There
should be a provision where the name, date of payment and pay period of the employee
should be mentioned. Further the gross amount of payment should be mentioned there.
Provisions regarding the incentives rate, penalty provisions and entitlement paid sections are
also to be included under the pay slips. In addition, there are certain mandatory provisions
which will be provided if necessary4. The provisions are:
In case where the employee is working on hourly pay basis, the number of working
hour and amount of payment must be mentioned under the slip. If the nature of work of the
employee is based on annual rate of pay, the last day pay period rate must be mentioned in
the slip. If any deduction has been made regarding the salary, it should also be mentioned in
the pay slip. If in any case the employer is willing to make any superannuation contribution,
the provisions must be specifically mentioned in the pay slip. In certain case, it has been
observed that certain funds are being made to regulate the superannuation contribution by the
employers5. In certain cases, it is mandatory to mention the name or number of the same in
the payslip.
4 Forsyth, Anthony, et al. "Establishing the Right to Bargain Collectively in Australia and the UK: Are Majority Support
Determinations under Australia’s Fair Work Act a More Effective Form of Union Recognition?." Industrial Law
Journal46.3 (2017): 335-365.
5 Seaforth, Rachael. "Casual workers' rights and employer obligations." Bulletin (Law Society of South Australia) 38.11
(2016): 38.

4LABOUR LAW
Answer to (c)
In Australia, all the employees are selected according to the rules of National
employment Standards and both the employees and the employers should have to maintain
the rights and responsibilities mentioned under the Fair Work Act 20096. However, it is the
right of every employee to get all the rights and facilities mentioned under the Workplace
Relation Act 1996. There are certain provisions regarding the record keeping and payslip of
the new employees who are about to commence their employment under the name of the
respective company. The name of the employees and the nature of his work must be
mentioned in the payslip. The name and ABN of the employers are also required to be
mentioned there. The date of recruitment must be mentioned in the payslip to understand the
commencement of employment of that employee specifically. The gross and net payment of
the employees should also be mentioned. Separate provisions for working hour, leave criteria,
conditions for employment termination and superannuation contribution should be mentioned
there. Certain entitlement rates are required to be mentioned in the payslip. A separate
provision for the deduction section must be included under the payslip. Provisions relating to
the tax application must also be mentioned in the payslip. However, payslip should be
provided to the employees within one working day and the provisions of the payslip should
be written as per the provision of Fair Work Regulation and Fair Work act 2009.
Answer to (d)
The provisions regarding the keeping the records of the employees are mandatory
in nature. The record keeping provisions has been mentioned under the commonwealth
workplace laws. It has been mentioned under the law that the record of the employee should
be maintained for a period of seven years7. The provision for employee record is mandatory
6 Davis, Kelsey. "A Critical Analysis of ‘Genuine Redundancy’Cases Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)." (2014).
7 James, Natalie, and Fair Work Ombudsman. "Commonwealth of Australia." (2015).

5LABOUR LAW
in nature and therefore, any employee can ask for maintenance of records. According to the
rules, any records based on the time and wages of the employee must be readable, should be
written in English language and Fair Work inspector can be accessed to all the information as
they required. The record regarding the time and wage could not be changed unless there is
any false or misleading statement has been recorded in that document. There is a particular
time frame has been mentioned under the Fair Work Act 2009 where the name of the
employer and employee should have to be mentioned and the pay period and the pay date
must be mentioned accordingly8. The payment criteria should have consisted of two time
schedule; one for the ordinary hours and the other for the overtime hours. The required pay
period must be mentioned on weekly basis and the pay day should be mentioned specifically.
Record can be kept for the termination of the employee too but in that cases, last working day
of the workers are required to be mentioned in the record9.
Answer to (e)
In Australia, record keeping plays an important role to understand the operation of
a particular business. Record will help to understand the amount of money the company is
gaining from the employees and how the money has been spent, the employment or
recruitment process of the employees and how all the official process of the business has
been operated. It also helps to manage the cash flow of the business. There are two leading
organisations in Australia who are regulating the record keeping process such as Australian
securities and Investment Commission and The Fair Work Ombudsman10. Australian
securities and Investment Commission regulates the record keeping process of a company
and the Fair Work Ombudsman helps the employees to keep their records on track.
8 Hood, Jack, Benjamin Hardy Jr, and Lauren Simpson. Workers' compensation and employee protection laws in a nutshell.
West Academic, 2016.
9 Alexander, Charlotte, and Anna Haley‐Lock. "Underwork, Work‐Hour Insecurity, and A New Approach to Wage and
Hour Regulation." Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society 54.4 (2015): 695-716.
10 Layton, Robyn, Meg Smith, and Andrew Stewart. "Equal remuneration under the Fair Work Act 2009." (2014).

6LABOUR LAW
According to the Taxation Office, an employee should keep the records for at least five years
and the Commonwealth Workplace Law requires a record of an employee should be
maintained for a period of seven years minimum. The records of the employee can be
maintained in two different ways; he can keep the record either electronically or with paper
copies. The record keeping maintenance has been mentioned under section 14 of the Fair
work Act 2009. According to Part 3 of the Fair Work Regulation, if any employer has failed
to comply with all the requirements for keeping a record, he will held liable under the Act
and civil penalties can be imposed on him.
Part A: Question 2
Answer to (a)
In Australia, there are certain provisions dealing with the minimum wages of an
employee. Fair work Act 2009 is one of the enactments. The term minimum wage denotes
basic payment rate of an employee which he is liable to get in an ordinary working hour11.
The rate of minimum wage is different in nature and it depends on various industrial
instruments that are suitable to apply on different working criteria. According to the Fair
Work Act 2009, no employer and employee is allowed to provide or get a remuneration that
is less than the actual rate of minimum wage. The rate of minimum wage has been decided by
the Fair Work Commissions and the respective process is known as the national workplace
relations system. Ten employment entitlements are provided to the employees among which
minimum wage is a part. Provisions of the minimum wage will be applied by the sections like
award, employment contract or certain other registered agreement12. According to section 284
of the Fair Work Act 2009, the main objective of the Minimum wage is to look over the
11 Bradley, David H. "The Federal Minimum Wage: In Brief." (2017).
12 Farbenblum, Bassina, and Laurie Berg. "Migrant workers’ access to remedy for exploitation in Australia: the role of the
national Fair Work Ombudsman." Australian Journal of Human Rights (2017): 1-22.

7LABOUR LAW
performance of national economy and promote the proper workplace theory by enhancing the
workplace participation. According to the National Minimum Wage, at present every
employee will get $18.29 per hour before tax. Therefore, it can be stated that Max is not
getting the minimum wages from his employer and therefore, he has every right to seek help
from the Fair work commission by making an application before them.
Answer to (b)
The present problem regarding Max is based on the provision of the Fair work act
2009. The main objective of the Act is to secure the interest of the employees and that
includes certain other topics like working hour, waging rate, workplace condition,
employment terms and termination process. Minimum wage rate means the basic rate of an
employee that is paid by the employer on hourly basis13. However, the rate of wage is
depending on the industrial instruments that are particularly applicable to him. Therefore, it
can be stated that the rate of wage is depending on the modern award or agreement. The
minimum wage rate has been determined by the Fair Work Commission and is provided to all
the employees who are a part of the national workplace relation system. This includes an
annual wage review that has been specified by section 285 to section 299 of the Fair Work
Act 2009. According to the current waging system, every employee must get a minimum
wage for the work they do. According to the Act, an employee should get $18.29 on per hour
basis or he is entitled to get $694.90 on the basis of 38 hours in a week. It is to be taken into
note that all these wages are given without any tax deduction. In case of the casual workers,
extra 25% loading money has been paid to them.
13 Molina, Luz M., Andrea M. Agee, and Erika A. Zucker. "Vulnerabilities of Low-Wage Workers and Some Thoughts on
Improving Workplace Protections: The Experience of the Workplace Justice Project." Loy. J. Pub. Int. L. 17 (2015): 215.

8LABOUR LAW
Answer to (c)
The waging structure of Australia is unique in nature and it provides many
opportunities to all the employees irrespective of their age. Therefore, Australia is providing
junior wage to those workers who are below the age of 21 years. It is not clear from the case
study that what is the exact age of Max; however, trainee wage is given to all the employees
who are under the age of 21 years and it is 12% of the actual waging rate. According to the
policies of the junior wages, every employee will get 52% of the actual rate. However, a
junior employee will get an adult wage rate after completing the criteria of junior wage rate14.
The waging criteria of Australia are being criticised by many scholars and it has been
observed that certain discriminations are being found in this system. Further, the rate of
unemployment has been affected the life of the employees and they get harassed in every step
of their life. Therefore, all the necessary steps should be taken by the government to avoid
this issue. However, if the age of Max does not exceed 21 years, he will be entitled to get
52% of the actual wage rate.
Answer to (d)
In Australia, the working hours of an employee have been fixed by the Fair Work
Act 2009 and it is abide by all the employers and employees working in Australia. When an
employee is working more than the ordinary working hours, it will be known as overtime. In
general, the rate of overtime is higher compared to the original amount of payment. However,
the amount differs on the basis of modern awards and registered instrument. A full time
employee should work for a term of 38 hours as full time weekly hours. An employee has all
the rights to refuse to work unreasonably. In case of any overtime, an employee would be
entitled to get extra payment. The amount of payment can be $25 on hour basis. However,
there can be certain other extra benefits too apart from the bonus. An employee can get
14 Hood, Jack, Benjamin Hardy Jr, and Lauren Simpson. Workers' compensation and employee protection laws in a nutshell.
West Academic, 2016.

9LABOUR LAW
certain flexible benefits such as car facility or health insurance. The benefit may include
gratuity or paid leave.
Part B: Question 3
Letter of Advice
To
Arts Corporation Pty Ltd
Australia
The idea of wrongful termination has been cropped up where the employees are get
sack from their post by the employer and the termination process includes certain breaches to
one or several sections of the employment agreement. Wrongful termination includes the
policy of constructive dismissal too where an employee is forced to make resignation from
his or her post and it is treated as a serious violation to the employee’s legal right15. An
employee, who has been terminated from his or her post illegally, can make a complaint
before the competent authority for wrongful termination against the company. If the
employee is getting terminated by the employer on the grounds of discrimination, retaliation
or the employer has not followed the employment policies while terminating him will be
come under the purview of wrongful termination or dismissal. The process of wrongful
termination will be applied to those cases also where there is no existence of the employment
contract in between the employer and the employee.
In this current case, it has been observed that Belinda has got sufficient chances to
prove her ability. The company has provided her all the facilities appropriated for her, but all
15 Clibborn, Stephen. "Why undocumented immigrant workers should have workplace rights." The Economic and Labour
Relations Review 26.3 (2015): 465-473

10LABOUR LAW
were in vain. She has not responded positively to those procurements and continued to be
disgraceful at work.
It has also been observed that Belinda has filed a general protection suit against the
company. The Fair Work Act 2009 has provided certain rights to the employees or protecting
their interest and the employers are prohibited from breaching any of those provisions16. The
Act has given certain workplace rights and industrial rights to the employees and in case of
any violation regarding the same by the employers, the employees will get all the chances to
file a suit against the employer. However, an employee can enjoy the right only when the acts
of the employer have contravened the provisions of the Fair Work Act 200917. Therefore, the
company is advised to look after the matters whether it has been violated any of the provision
in case of Belinda’s termination.
The complaint relating to the wrongful termination can be made against a company
if any employee is terminated in illegal way. In this case, the employee has to show that the
employer has infringed the provision of the employment contract. If the employee can prove
his innocence, the alleged company will be bound to give him or her relevant compensation
under the law. However, there are certain provisions too by which a company can defend it.
In this letter, all such grounds are being described categorically.
The defence can be made through three processes such as breach of public policy,
breach of implied contract and wrongful termination liability. The employer is required to
prove the facts that the behaviour of the employee was against the employment policies of the
company and his termination has not breached any provision of the public policies. The
company may defend with the plea that the essence of the public policy does not cover the
16 Izzo, Luis. "Employment: The casual conundrum: Casual employment in the fair work world." LSJ: Law Society of NSW
Journal 21 (2016): 82
17 Southey, Kim. "UNFAIR DISMISSAL FOR AUSTRALIAN WORKERS: THE HUNDRED-YEAR JOURNEY." Asian
Academy of Management Journal 20.1 (2015).

11LABOUR LAW
protection of employee’s conduct. If the employee has alleged that the company has breached
the provisions of the implied contract, company can defend it by arguing that the alleged
implied contract does not existed any more18. Further, if the company can prove that it has
followed up all the essential sides as per the prescribed regulation and the allegation of the
employee has no base; it can be regarded as a good ground of defence.
The company is advised to provide certain information to the employees with an
intention to avoid all the future problems. The company can interpreted all the employment
policies to the employees and conduct proper training and grooming program whatever is
necessary for the employees. Therefore, the company is suggested to look over all the above
stated grounds and analyse their response towards Belinda.
The Fair work act 2009 has empowered both the employers and the employees to
defend them against the allegation of wrongful dismissal or termination and protected both
the rights of the employer and the employee. Both the parties are required to submit their
portion of liabilities and prove their innocence over the matter.
In this case, it has been observed that Belinda has made certain allegation against
the company and filed two suits before the competent authority by stating the process of her
termination has breached the provision of employment contract. it is no doubt to state that she
has to collect and submit all the relevant document to prove the burden of proof. Similarly,
the company will get a fair chance to defend it against all the allegations. In this case, the
company has to prove that the termination process of Belinda is not against the policy of the
employment agreement and the company has provided many opportunities to her to prove her
eligibility. Therefore, the company has to submit all the notices that had been provided to
Belinda for her absence mind during the office hour. Further, the company has called for a
18 French, Ben, Maree Veronica Boyle, and Olav Muurlink. "Workplace Bullying in Australia: The Fair Work Act and its
impact." New Zealand Journal of Human Resource Management 14.2 (2014): 69-81.