Legal Workers' Compensation
Following on from the proposed changes to New South Wales workers' compensation; Fair Work Australia has recently rejected group arguments that workers' compensation absences should not count towards the minimum qualifying period. The minimum qualifying period, whether six months or twelve months (depending on the size of the employer) is the time period during which employers are protected from unfair dismissal claims from employees. Once past this qualifying period, an employee is able to lodge a claim of unfair dismissal against an employer. The recent case of WorkPac Pty Ltd v Bambach- [2012] FWAFB 3206 - 31 May 2012 found that the employee, Michael Bambach was eligible for an unfair dismissal claim after spending over 14 months absent from work due to an injury. Bambach began his employment in March 2010, then was subsequently injured and deemed unable to perform work duties from early June of the same year until September of 2011. After being deemed fit to return to work,