ARTICLE · 27 JUNE 2021

Construction Company Wins Case On Exception To Redundancy Payments

Vincent Young

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A Full Federal Court has found, in a case involving a construction company and the CEPU, that the "ordinary and customary turnover"...

AustraliaEmployment and HR

A Full Federal Court has found, in a case involving a construction company and the CEPU, that the "ordinary and customary turnover" exception to redundancy pay in section 119 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) applied to employees employed for a specific construction project.

At first instance, the primary judge found that the employees could not have had a reasonable expectation of ongoing employment, as work for the employer was undertaken in accordance with client contracts that are limited and finite. When those contracts (in relation to a project) were fulfilled, there was no longer a requirement by the employer for the job to be done by the employee or by anyone.

The Full Court agreeing with the primary judge, pointed out that each of the employment contracts and the applicable enterprise agreement contained unambiguous and plain terms such as:

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