Injured workers wins unfair dismissal claim
Employers are fuming at a decision by Fair Work Australia that will make it easier for injured employees receiving workers’ compensation to claim unfair dismissal.
Injured employees receiving work-related compensation payments can now count the time they spend recovering at home towards meeting their minimum employment period of six to 12 months after injury, during which they are protected from unfair dismissal.
Employer groups railed at the landmark decision by FWA yesterday, warning that it had major implications and the government needed to consider the consequences as part of its review of the Fair Work Act.
In the full bench decision, the industrial umpire rejected an appeal by major labour hire business WorkPac. The company said employee Michael Bambach was ineligible for an unfair dismissal claim because he had failed to meet the relevant period of “continuous service” after he was injured at work.
The Fair Work Act deems the minimum employment period under which protection from unfair dismissal is granted is six months for large employers and 12 months for smaller operators.
After starting work in early March 2010, Mr Bambach was injured and unable to perform his duties from June 2 that year to September 23, 2011, at the Mount Owen mine in the Hunter Valley, more than 14 months.
After he was deemed fit to resume his pre-injury duties, Mr Bambach received notification of the cessation of his employment from WorkPac on October 17, effective from September 24.
The Australian Industry Group noted that unpaid absences were not normally counted towards “continuous service” even when individuals were beneficiaries of other schemes. Source: Joe Kelly, The Australian, June 01, 2012
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About Rushmore Forensic
Andrew Firth is a forensic accountant who has conducted numerous investigations and other forensic accounting engagements in both Australia and overseas.
He specialises in economic loss calculations, personal injury compensation and other forensic accounting services for commercial disputes. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has appeared as an Expert Witness in numerous jurisdictions.
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Engineering company fined for workplace accident
An engineering company has been fined $187,500 for a workplace accident that left a man partially paralysed.
The Industrial Relations Court fined Downer EDI Works for failing to implement guard railings around a machine that is involved in the preparation of asphalt.
The court found there were also limited safety protocols regarding the cleaning of the machine, the task that the worker was undertaking at the time of the accident in May 2009.
The victim, who had worked for the company for eight years, slipped into the pit during a break in cleaning and was crushed between the incline conveyor belt and drum roller.
He sustained partial tetraplegia, significant brain injuries, broken bones and nerve damage.
In his judgment, Magistrate Michael Ardlie said the incident could have led to death.
“The employee is highly unlikely to be able to work again or to be able to live independently” Mr Ardlie said.
“It is clear, and it was not disputed, that in the circumstances the risk was that the employee could have suffered fatal injuries.”
He added that the company had shown regret and had taken action to ensure proper protection and safe work practices were carried out throughout its Dry Creek plant.
“It went further to ensure that Australia wide all its plant was reviewed to ensure that guarding was adequate” he said.
Downer EDI Works was fined $187,500 and ordered to pay $1000 in costs and levies.
Source: Adelaide Now, 6 Jan 2012
About Rushmore Forensic
Andrew Firth is a forensic accountant who has conducted numerous investigations and other forensic accounting engagements in both Australia and overseas.
He specialises in economic loss calculations, personal injury compensation and other forensic accounting services for commercial disputes. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has appeared as an Expert Witness in numerous jurisdictions.
Court orders proceeds of crime confiscations of more than $650,000
A court has ordered more than $650,000 that is suspected of being linked to an international drug cartel to be turned over to authorities.
Australian Federal Police allegedly seized the cash in March when they raided the homes of two Gold Coast men suspected of heading the operation.
Ryan Thomas Litchfield, 26, allegedly had $37,500 stashed in a safe and a Louis Vuitton box at his Tweed Heads home.
Police allegedly found more than $600,000 at the Coolangatta home of co-accused Daniel Nunes Negrine, 30.
These and other alleged cash finds at both men’s homes totalled more than $650,000.
Queensland District Court documents allege some of that cash was found in the lining of a couch, while most was in the boots of two cars parked outside an apartment.
A District judge ordered this week that the cash, confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act, be surrendered to the Official Trustee of Bankruptcy.
Both men have been charged with conspiring to import cocaine between August last year and March of this year.
It’s alleged they used mules to bring drugs from Brazil into the Gold Coast.
Police allege Litchfield and Negrine can be linked to a man caught at Sydney International Airport and another at the Gold Coast International Airport.
These two mules allegedly had 12 kilograms of cocaine hidden in suitcase linings and windsurfer handles.
A third man, who was allegedly carrying 2kg of cocaine and had links to Litchfield and Negrine, was arrested in New Zealand in February as he was about to board a flight to Australia.
Litchfield and Negrine will both face court at a later date.
Source: AAP, The Gold Coast , May 31, 2012
About Rushmore Forensic
Andrew Firth is a forensic accountant who has conducted numerous investigations and other forensic accounting engagements in both Australia and overseas.
He specialises in financial investigations and provides expert witness reports for court purposes. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has appeared as an Expert Witness in numerous jurisdictions.
Gold Coast man jailed over workers compensation fraud
A former Gold Coast council worker has been jailed for lying about breaking his ankle on the job to claim workers’ compensation, when he actually injured himself at the pub.
Richard Trevor Moore was sentenced to nine months prison and forced to pay back $65,000 to the Gold Coast City Council.
Moore claimed he tripped on a wet road bump at work but a Southport magistrate ruled he broke his ankle while having drinks at the Parkwood Tavern.
Lawyer Michael Gatenby will today lodge an appeal against the Southport Magistrates Court decision and sentence and seek bail for his client.
Moore, 51, filed a claim alleging he had been retrieving his work phone from his car when tripped at a council depot in September 2010 and badly injured his ankle.
He told his surgeon he thought it was just a sprain and so he drove to the pub for a few drinks at the tavern.
CCTV footage tendered in the court showed him collapsing in the pub and he was taken to hospital by ambulance and treated for a bad fracture.
Q-COMP lawyers, on behalf of the council, said Moore tried to cheat the system in a fraudulent claim for compensation and lying to his council boss and his surgeon about the incident.
Moore, a 20-year council landscaping employee, pleaded not guilty and maintained the initial sprain at the council depot had led to the later fracture.
He further claimed he had been made to sign work reports about the incident while on pain medication.
Southport acting magistrate Gary Finger found Moore guilty of defrauding the council and making five false statements under the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act.
He convicted and sentenced him to nine months jail, suspended after he served three months.
He also ordered Moore to repay the Gold Coast City Council $65,861.72.
Mr Gatenby, from Gatenby Criminal Lawyers, said he would appeal the magistrate’s decision and sentence on the grounds that it was “unsound, unsatisfactory and unproved by the evidence“.
A council spokeswoman declined to comment specifically on Moore’s case as the council is forbidden to comment on workers’ compensation matters under the terms of its self-insurances workers’ compensation licence.
Council figures show workers’ compensation claims cost the organisation more than $4 million a year.
Source: Courier Mail, Leah Fineran and Matthew Killoran | 07:07am May 22, 2012
About Rushmore Forensic
Andrew Firth is a forensic accountant who has conducted numerous investigations and other forensic accounting engagements in both Australia and overseas.
He specialises in economic loss calculations, personal injury compensation and other forensic accounting services for commercial disputes. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has appeared as an Expert Witness in numerous jurisdictions.