Assessment 1 Australian Employment Law LAWS12071
Assessment 1 Australian Employment Law LAWS12071
What is a workbook and why am I doing this?
A workbook is a series of exercises and questions which leads students through the course content. In the past when I have used workbooks students have commented to me that they learnt more with this design of assessment. This is because they had to read all the chapters and engage with the content more generally to answer the questions. Most assessment deal with choice topics but this assessment is more generalised.
We will be working through some of these questions in our zoom sessions together so make sure you either attend or listen to the recordings.
General Instructions
Students are encouraged/expected to work through these questions progressively as we go through the course content. So there should no need for a mad rush the night before the assessment is due.
The course content this assessment covers is from Topics 1 (Chapter1 6 of TB) Topic 2 (Chapters 7,8, 10-13 of TB)
In your answers you must always cite primary material such as legislation and/or case law wherever relevant. You must also follow the AGLC.
40% of your mark total 40 marks
The maximum word length for the whole assessment is 3000 words
You have a 10% leeway.
Please submit your work online through Moodle.
Late penalties: 5% per day.
Please note the system records authorised extensions
The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No 2) Act 2024 (CL No 2)
General Comment:
A big part of what we will look at in class will be the CL No 2 Act mentioned above. The following questions incorporate the material discussed in class which arises from these changes. See in particular the supplement to the Text Book.
Chapters 1 and 2
Australias Constitution does not include a direct power to legislate with respect to workplace relations / industrial relations matters. As a consequence of this a number of the Constitutional powers in the Commonwealth Constitution were relied upon to enact the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Answer the following questions:-
(i) Which Constitutional power was used to enact Part 2-2 (the National Employment Standards) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)? Does this enable coverage to all Australian employees ? If not why not and how does the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) extend these entitlements to other employees.
2 marks
(ii) Are local government employees in Western Australia covered by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)? Explain why or why not.
2 marks
Chapter 3
(i) Explain why the new section 15AA was introduced into the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
(ii) Explain the new section 15AA
5 marks
Chapters 4 and 5
Explain the new provisions regulating digital platform workers by reference to the provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
3 marks
Explain the new section 15A of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) introduced by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No 2) Act 2024 (Cth) (CL No 2) and further examine how it has changed the definition of casual employment.
3 marks
Chapter 6
Most employers have detailed policies and codes of conduct in place to manage their workforce. How can these policies form of the contract of employment and if so what may be the consequences? Explain by reference to case law.
2 marks
Chapters 7 and 11
List the National Employment Standards. In your answer you must cite the relevant sections of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) which apply to each standard.
3 marks
The list of National Employment Standards (NES) is not closed. Which standards were introduced most recently.
2 marks
Explain how the right to disconnect works? Do you agree with the introduction of this right? Why or why not?
3 marks
Chapter 8
Section 172(1)(a) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) provides that an enterprise agreement can only validly deal with matters pertaining to the relations between each employer that will be covered by the agreement and its employees. Bob a union official for a construction union who is a strong advocate of reducing carbon emissions by the industry as he is concerned about climate change. He wants to know if he can include a clause in the enterprise agreement which obliges employers to commit to zero emissions target by 2030. Advise Bob whether this will be lawful under 172(1)(a) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
*Students may need to do some wider research to answer this question
3 marks
Chapters 7, 11, 12, 13
Sam was an army reservist. He was proud of being part of the army. He loved being called up to help. He published some remarks on his personal facebook page that were derogatory of people who were transgender. The army found out because someone who knew him read the remarks and was offended. After an investigation the army asked Sam to retract the comments. He refused as he said it was his right to publish what he wants on his facebook page. The army saw it differently as it contravened their code of conduct. Sam was then dismissed for refusing to obey the armys directive.
Advise Sam.
4 marks
Lloyds Home Services (Lloyds) provides any and all services which a busy homeowner might need: lawn mowing, gardening, cleaning, pet care, and small repair jobs. Rose has been employed by Lloyds for two years, doing mainly mowing and gardening work and pet care. However, she also occasionally helps out in dispatching by answering phones and taking job orders on days she has no client work. She works 30 hours a week Monday-Friday and spends the rest of her time with her kids. The manager of Lloyds, Andy, feels that home service is really a job suited to men. He continually finds fault with Roses work and gives her low performance evaluations. The company has just decided to expand into weekend work, and Andy has decided to put Rose on the new weekend shift starting next month. Rose objects, saying that she should not have to work on the weekends, as that is when she spends time with her family. She has asked for flexible work arrangements so she can spend time with her family. Lloyds refuses and said it did not fit into his business model.
Rose is tired of working for what she feels is low pay and bullying behaviour. She wants to start her own housecleaning business out of her home. Rose has access when she is dispatching to Lloyds customer lists for housecleaning jobs. She has contacted some of the clients on the list for whom she has worked to tell them that she plans go out on her own next month. She has asked these clients if they would like to book a cleaning with her new business.
Identify whether Rose has breached a term of the employment contract?
4 marks
Identify whether Lloyds has breached the National Employment Standards (NES) under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
4 marks
