High Court unanimously finds for WorkCover in unusual vicarious liability case
A significant outcome for employers in High Court case examining vicarious liability.
2 August 2023
A significant outcome for employers in High Court case examining vicarious liability.
With an increasing number of employees taking prescribed medical cannabis in the workplace, it is important for employers to understand their legal obligations when managing these employees.
A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission serves as a timely reminder of the requirements that must be followed when terminating an employee by way of redundancy.
Employers with employees covered by any of the 78 modern awards impacted by the 1 May 2023 overhaul of business shutdown provisions by the Fair Work Commission should review their arrangements to ensure compliance.
The Fair Work Commission has handed down its decision this morning to increase the national minimum wage as part of its wage review.
It has often been assumed that a claimant with an injury resulting in a degree of permanent impairment of 20% or more was entitled to recover counsel’s fees on settlement of a claim, pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2014. However, the Queensland Supreme Court has now definitively held that there is no such entitlement.
The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWCFB) has recently reaffirmed the primacy of contractual terms when determining the employment status of a gig worker. However, this position is unlikely to subsist due to the Labor Government’s proposed legislative amendments tackling secure jobs and the gig economy.
Cooper Grace Ward has again been named as a First Tier insurance law firm by Doyle’s Guide. Partners Tony Park and Brady Cockburn were also ranked in the list of Leading Queensland Workers Compensation & WorkCover Lawyers by Doyle’s Guide for 2022.
The Supreme Court of Queensland has clarified how the workers’ compensation state of connection test operates. This potentially has significant ramifications for employers and insurers where employees are working across multiple states or territories.
In Giles v State of Queensland [2021] QCA 206, the Queensland Court of Appeal confirmed the District Court’s decision that the State was not negligent in its management and welfare checking of an injured worker during his attendance at a catastrophic fire.
What is ‘reasonable management action’ and how does it work in practice?
In Bona v Jeffries & Allianz Australia Insurance Limited [2021] QSC 84, the defendant insurer failed, on the basis of unreasonable delay, in its application to the Brisbane Supreme Court for an order that the plaintiff submit to an assessment by an occupational therapist over 12 months after the holding of the compulsory conference.