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When an employee files an unfair dismissal claim, the employer has 7 days to respond. But what happens next? This step-by-step guide breaks down what to expect from the unfair dismissal claim process, and tips and tricks to help you get prepared.

The Gender-Based Violence Code was introduced on 1 January 2026 for 42 Universities and other specified higher education providers. However on 1 January 2027, the Gender-Based Violence Code will be rolled out to over 3,000 other tertiary education providers in Australia. So what is it, and how do providers comply?

The Fair Work tribunals and courts of Australia have traditionally always been 'no costs' jurisdictions. But what does this actually mean? Can employers ever recoup legal fees incurred defending unmeritorious claims brought by employees?

On 17 June 2026, the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Work from Home) Bill 2026 (Vic) (EOA Bill) was introduced to the Victorian Legislative Assembly. If passed, it will create a statutory right to work from home (WFH) by creating a presumption in favour of employees to WFH 2 days a week and significant compliance obligations on employers to allow eligible employees to do so if they are reasonably able.

Following years of contested interpretation, the Fair Work Commission has finalised new rules for how sleepover shifts are rostered and paid under the SCHADS Award. Here is what employers in the community, disability, aged care and home care sectors need to know.

This article explains when details of employment law matters in both the Fair Work Commission and the Federal Court can be kept confidential (via confidentiality, suppression orders and non-publication orders), highlights recent cases in the courts, and outlines key considerations for employers.

The aged care sector has become one of the Fair Work Ombudsman's most active enforcement priorities. With over $40.5 million recovered for more than 22,000 workers in a single financial year, a wave of Enforceable Undertakings signed by major providers, and an active proactive investigation underway, no aged care organisation can afford to treat payroll compliance as a back-office afterthought.

From superannuation and parental leave changes, to new flexible work rights, FWO enforcement activities and states’ legislating in the IR space, here are five of the key developments that should be on every employer’s radar.

The issues in dispute and the legal principles enunciated in these two cases concern distinct issues, however the combined effect of these two decisions for future industrial relations litigation is strategically significant for both the unions (and law firms bringing similar class actions) and for medium to large employers having to defend them.

Coles and Woolworths are set to have their underpayment bill increased with an announcement by class action firm Adero that it intends to amend the relevant statements of claim in the long-running store managers underpayment litigation to include a claim relating to a requirement to work on public holidays.

Handed down on 16 October 2025, the Full Federal Court's unanimous decision in Bakers Delight Holdings Ltd v Fair Work Ombudsman [2025] FCAFC 144 confirmed that the 'reverse onus' provisions, under section 557C of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), can apply to franchisor liability proceedings, and are not confined to employer franchisees.

On 5 September 2025, the Federal Court delivered its long-awaited judgment on key preliminary questions of law in the long running Coles & Woolworths store managers underpayments litigation (Fair Work Ombudsman v Woolworths Group Limited; Fair Work Ombudsman v Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd; Baker v Woolworths Group Limited; Pabalan v Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd [2025] FCA 109).

With many Australian universities commencing bargaining this year and early next year, ‘workloads’ - and in particular academic workloads and the associated remuneration model - will again feature heavily. Although the issue of academic workloads is one of the NTEU’s current top priorities, the issue has been a source of ongoing complexity and disputation between unions and universities for decades.

As of June 2025, seven (7) Australian Universities have entered into Enforceable Undertakings with the Fair Work Ombudsman, following several years of Fair Work Ombudsman focus on the higher education sector.

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FWA) underwent significant changes in 2023 and 2024. While the headlines at the time went to “wage theft” and the new criminal offences, less headline grabbing changes were made to the ‘serious contraventions’ provision of the FWA. In particular, the new test of ‘reckless’ underpayments, together with a significant increase to penalties (now the greater of $5.46 million or 3 x the underpayment per contravention).