General Protections under Employment Law In Queensland, employment law protects employees against discriminatory or retaliatory actions by their employers. This can include: Discrimination: Employers cannot take adverse action against employees on the basis of their race, gender, age, religion, disability, or other protected attributes. Industrial activity: Employers cannot take adverse action against employees who are exercising their rights to take part in industrial activities, such as joining a union, participating in industrial action, or making a complaint about their employment. Temporary absence: Employers cannot take adverse action against employees who are temporarily absent from work due to illness or injury. ​ Family or carer responsibilities: Employers cannot take adverse action against employees who have family or carer responsibilities, such as caring for a child or elderly relative. Political opinion: Employers cannot take adverse action against employees on the basis of their political beliefs or activities. ​ If you believes that your employer has taken adverse action against you on one of these grounds, you may have a case to raise. ​ Act now! There is a strict 21-day time limit for making a claim if you have experienced this adverse action!

Our process Step One: Free Consultation When you phone or fill out our form, we'll assess your case and answer any initial questions you may have about employment law and your situation. If you need further support, they will then assign your case to the employment advocate best suited to help you. They'll talk to you about what options you might have and what they would recommend as the next step. CONTACT US Step Three: Progress Your Case This might involve supporting you in a disciplinary meeting, representing you in a restructure, negotiating an exit package, or agreeing a financial settlement with your employer. Typically, once we are involved your employer is required to deal directly with us which takes a lot of the stress off your shoulders. CONTACT US Step Five: Conciliation ​If it can't be solved informally with your employer, then we may need to go to conciliation. Conciliation is confidential, neutral and facilitated by an impartial person provided by the Fair Work Commission. We will be with you to present your case and help make sure you can get your side across. Your employer will have their opportunity to reply. Both parties will then try to resolve the issue. If this is successful, tboth parties sign off on a confidential and legally binding agreement. CONTACT US Step Two: Authority to Act If you decide to proceed you will receive an email with our Terms of Engagement (i.e. our fees) and an Authority to Act form. Giving us Authority to Act means that we can legally speak on your behalf. Once you have given us authority to act on your behalf, we'll get to work trying to resolve your employment issue. ​ CONTACT US Step Four: Informal Settlement Most of our cases are settled at this informal stage. This means that both parties come to a confidential agreement that resolves all the issues raised. If there is an agreement, we'll draw up a legally binding document which will be signed by both parties and made enforceable. Any money to be paid to you by your employer will usually be received within 7 days.​ CONTACT US Step Six: QIRC or FWC If conciliation is unsuccessful, or your employer refuses to attend, then we may need to progress to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) or the Fair Work Commission (FWC), depending on your case. These bodies make a decision on employment disputes and what your employer needs to pay you. Before doing anything, we will discuss what will happen and your chances of success. CONTACT US

Redundancy In Queensland, employers are required to follow a fair and reasonable process when making an employee redundant. It cannot be predetermined! Employers must consult with affected employees and provide them with information about the redundancy, including the reasons for it and the process that will be followed. They must also use fair and objective criteria when selecting employees for redundancy. This may include factors such as skills, qualifications, and performance. ​ Employers also need to give the correct notice, redundancy pay and entitlements. Failure to do any of these may make the redundancy unlawful. ​ ​ Act now! There is a strict 21-day time limit for making a claim if you have been unfairly made re dundant.

What is it? Medical incapacity is a term used to describe an individual's inability to work due to a medical condition or illness. This might be a permanent condition, or one that they could recover completely from. Either way, an employer should first work around the employee's condition and termination certainly should not be rushed into! What should an employer do before considering medical incapacity? If an employer is concerned that you are not going to be able to return to your role, either for a significant period or indefinitely, before doing anything, they need to get all the facts straight. This means: what your employment agreement says what your prognosis is whether the business can operate without you until you can return fully if it can't, could the role be filled in a casual capacity, by a temp or by another employee for the temporary period until you can return if not, whether there are alternative roles either temporarily or permanently Note : Employers shouldn't replace you permanently while you are still employed The medical incapacity process First and foremost, this is a process! The employer must consult you before making any decisions and they need to let you know that this process could affect you employment. This process involves knowing what you say what your medical experts say if there are alternative hours or roles that you could, and would, do? ... before an employer makes a decision! If they don't do this? Then any termination could be an unfair dismissal and you could have a grievance to raise. Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. While we strive to keep the information accurate and up to date, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the blog or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the blog for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. For specific legal advice tailored to your situation, please contact a qualified legal professional.

Constructive dismissal is something we get asked about frequently, so lets break it down. What is constructive dismissal In simple terms, constructive dismissal occurs when an employer's actions or behavior towards an employee are so bad that the employee feels they have no other choice but to quit. Basically, it could be anything unreasonable that causes the situation to become untenable for you. What does this look like? This can happen when the employer breaks the rules of the employment contract, behaves in a really bad way, or makes the workplace unbearable. Some examples of behavior that could lead to constructive dismissal are not being paid your wages, being made to work in dangerous conditions, or being harassed or discriminated against. Or, if your employer fails to act reasonably when you raise a concern, for instance, if you say that you are being bullied by another co-worker. But my employer didn't tell me I was fired? If you can show that their employer's behavior was a major factor in their decision to quit, and that quitting was the only option they had, then they may be able to make a case for constructive dismissal, even if your employer doesn't outright tell you to leave. What should I do? In general, the onus is on the employee to raise their concerns where possible before resigning, but if you don't do this it won't necessarily prevent you from successfully claiming that you've been constructively dismissed. Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. While we strive to keep the information accurate and up to date, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the blog or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the blog for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. For specific legal advice tailored to your situation, please contact a qualified legal professional.

We understand that in trying financial times it can be hard to pay an hourly rate for employment advice. This is why our advocates work in most cases on a 'no win no fee' basis. What does no win no fee mean? Basically, if we take your case on on a no win no fee basis this means that our fee comes out of whatever we can achieve for you. This means that you don't need to pay our hourly rate as we go along and whether we work ten hours or 50 hours, your fee is 1/3+GST of what we achieve for you. This way, there is no financial risk for you as you explore options to resolve your employment problem. Note: Sometimes there are fixed fees, ie, to file with the Fairwork Commission, but this is all laid out in our terms and conditions. When do we charge a fee? Some cases aren't suitable for a no win no fee situation, as we aren't seeking a financial outcome for you. This can include work like negotiating notice periods or representing you in disciplinary meetings. If you have any further questions about our cost structure, don’t be afraid to get in touch. Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. While we strive to keep the information accurate and up to date, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the blog or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the blog for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. For specific legal advice tailored to your situation, please contact a qualified legal professional.