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ARTICLE · 06 APRIL 2018

Car allowance decision drives unfair dismissal access

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The case considered the issue of car allowances to determine the annual rate of earnings for unfair dismissal purposes.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Michael Byrnes
Michael Byrnes
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In the recent decision of Sam Technology Engineers Pty Ltd v Mr Andrew Bernadou [2018] FWCFB 1767 the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) considered (as part of an appeal) the issue of how to treat car allowances for the purpose of determining the annual rate of earnings for unfair dismissal purposes.

This is important because if the annual rate of earnings of an employee exceeds the high income threshold ($138,900 per annum at the relevant time of termination in this decision, $142,000 per annum since 1 July 2017) an employee is jurisdictionally barred from pursuing unfair dismissal proceedings. (Unless the employee is covered by a modern award or an enterprise agreement applies to them.)

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