In the recent case of Colin Wright v AGL Loy Lang, the full bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) was faced with an interesting conundrum – could the criminal law Pfitzner principle be legitimately applied to a civil matter? With the original decision on the point being in the negative, the appeal bench […]
The ‘reasonable person’ test is one of those legal quirks that form an enduring part of the common law, despite being very hard to actually define. One human causing damage to another is certainly a tale as old as history itself. And judges in various forms have always had the task of determining if the […]
Rules of evidence exist to ensure that court hearings are properly and fairly conducted. They are enshrined in legislation. To be admissible, each piece of evidence must satisfy all the checks and balances set out in the legislation. EVIDENCE AND THE Fair Work Commission (FWC) The FWC is not bound by the rules of evidence […]
Jill McMahon – Monday, December 14, 2015 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The issue of circumstantial evidence can often arise in workplace investigations, and there can sometimes be confusion about how to […]
It is not uncommon that following a workplace investigation, the former employee raises allegations that the process was procedurally flawed. In addition to considering the investigation process, we need to be aware that the standard of proof used to make any findings may be called into question. In other words, although the investigator may […]
The Reasonable Person Test Explained The ‘reasonable person’ test is one of those legal quirks that form an enduring part of the common law, despite being very hard to actually define. One human causing damage to another is certainly a tale as old as history itself. And judges in various forms have always had the […]
The rules of evidence are a set of guidelines which are commonly used to decide what types of evidence are admissible in court and what can be used to prove or disprove an allegation. As workplace investigations do on occasion end up in court it’s important that any evidence used to decide a claim […]
A starting point for any court of law when assessing the legitimacy of an administrative decision is fairness – procedural fairness Now that Safe Work Australia has released the draft model code for bullying in the workplace, employers need to ensure that procedural fairness is at the heart of their response to bullying issues. A […]