MDC Legal

The High Court of Australia has delivered a significant decision in Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd v Bartley [2025] HCA 29, reshaping the legal landscape around redundancies and redeployment under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (‘FWA’). The Court has confirmed that employers must adopt a broader and more practical view of redeployment opportunities before concluding that a dismissal amounts to a “genuine redundancy”.

Redundancy Under Scrutiny: High Court Sets New Standards - MDC Legal The High Court of Australia has delivered a significant decision in Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd v Bartley [2025] HCA 29, reshaping the legal landscape around redundancies and redeployment under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (‘FWA’). The Court has confirmed that employers must adopt a broader and mor...

📢 Are you aware of the changes to the National Minimum Wage?

The Fair Work Ombudsman has announced the annual minimum wage increase. As of 1 July 2025, the National Minimum Wage and Minimum Award Wages increased by 3.5%.

If you are an employer:
• Check to ensure you are not paying your employees below the new minimum wage ✅
• Check to make sure you know which modern award covers each employee, and ensure you are paying them above each award’s minimum rates ✅

If you are an employee:
• Check your contract to ensure that you are being paid above the new minimum wage and/or your applicable modern award ✅

To find out more about the changes and to check if your terms of employment are compliant with the changes follow this link: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/workplace-laws/annual-wage-review/annual-wage-review-2024-2025.

If you want to make sure your business is paying employees under the correct award, or you have any other questions about workplace entitlements, please contact MDC Legal on (08) 9288 4000 or via [email protected] for advice.

Minimum wages increase 3.5% from 1 July 2025 - Fair Work Ombudsman The Fair Work Commission has announced a 3.5% increase to the National Minimum Wage and minimum award wages. Learn more.

Thank you to for hosting us at this year’s Perth Law Careers Fair.

We enjoyed sharing our passion for employment law with the next generation of lawyers and thank all those who expressed an interest in our firm.

For information on our clerkship programs or to submit an application, please email [email protected].

Corporate photo day at MDC Legal, when we all aspire to be as photogenic as our office pooch Po. Keep an eye out for our new-look website, launching soon.

As a business owner are you aware of when an employee can bring a representative vs a support person to a disciplinary process? Further, how is a support person entitled to participate in the process?

In line with procedural fairness requirements, an employee is usually entitled to bring a support person to a disciplinary meeting. The support person’s role is limited to providing emotional support and acting as a witness. However, certain Awards and Enterprise Agreements afford employees the right to have a representative at disciplinary meetings, who can advocate on their behalf.

For further information, please check out our blog article.

Difference between a representative and a support person during a disciplinary process by Paul Hyun, Lawyer As an employer you will probably at some stage need to undertake a disciplinary process with an employee. The disciplinary process may already be a daunting task for some employers, more so when a union official or lawyer attends the meeting with the employee. To ensure that you...

In our latest blog article, we outline the recent decision of Elisha v Vision Australia [2024] HCA 50, in which an employee recovered damages for the manner in which he was dismissed from employment.

The decision is a timely reminder to all employers to consider their HR practices when terminating an employee’s contract of employment and a cautionary tale on the need for careful wording in employment contracts and settlement deeds.

A Shake-Up of an Old Rule: Damages for Psychiatric Injury for Terminating an Employee’s Employment By Nicholas Morrison, Lawyer, and Alison Humphry, Legal Consultant Since the 1909 English Court of Appeal decision of Addis v Gramophone Company Ltd [1909] AC 488, it has been a widely held principle that an employee cannot recover damages for the manner in which they were dismissed. The recent High...

2024 that’s a wrap!!!

The MDC Legal team recently enjoyed a delightful year end lunch at Santini Bar and Grill. It was the perfect setting to celebrate and reminisce on the action-packed year. We’ve been engaged in some major litigation and achieved some great outcomes for our clients.

From everyone at MDC Legal, we wish all our clients and colleagues a merry Christmas and prosperous new year.

We look forward to working with you again in 2025.

Our office will be closed from lunchtime on Tuesday, 24 December and will reopen as normal on Monday, 6 January 2025.

The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No 2) Act 2024 introduces changes that will affect small businesses regarding an employee’s “right to disconnect”.

The Right to Disconnect – How Will It Impact Small Businesses? By Andrea McNamara, Senior Associate The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No 2) Act 2024 introduces changes that will affect small businesses regarding an employee’s “right to disconnect”. What is the impact of these changes on small business, and how can you comply with an e...

With a myriad of changes coming into play in the workplace relations landscape, it’s crucial to take the time to reflect on and refresh workplace relations practices. Our latest blog article suggests ways to set your business up for workplace relations success and minimise risk this new financial year.

New financial year = opportunity for a new approach to your business’ workplace relations With the new financial year upon us, what is your business planning to do differently this year to more effectively and efficiently manage one of the most important aspects of managing any business – its workplace relations? With a myriad of changes coming into play in the workplace relations land...

In the last of our three-part series on Australian workplace relations reform, we highlight key changes under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Act 2023:

Part 3: Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Act 2023 — the key amendments Part 3 of this three-part article series on significant recent and upcoming changes to employment law outlines key amendments under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Act 2023.