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ARTICLE · 17 MAY 2023

Failure to redeploy overseas decisive

Gilchrist Connell
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When making redundancies, employers will now need to consider positions they have available overseas.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Mark Curran
Mark Curran
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Employers who are implementing redundancies in Australia and who have positions available in overseas associated entities, will now have to consider whether it is reasonable to redeploy affected employees to those overseas entities, following a decision of the Fair Work Commission in late April.

Facts

In Alesia Khliustova v Isoton Pty Ltd [2023] FWC 658, a software engineer successfully defended an employer's jurisdictional objection that a redundancy was "genuine" within the meaning of section 389 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act).

In 2022, the employer decided to implement an increased technical support presence in India to increase its competitiveness. It was expected that twelve people would be engaged in India. In late 2022, as a result of a number of significant financial challenges, including an unexpected deferment of a contract, the employer decided to reduce its costs base. This included removing a number of positions in Australia and reducing the

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