An employer’s human resources policies are not just a set of statements that no-one takes seriously … they can be enforceable contract terms, according to the Federal Court.
The Full Federal Court of Australia has recently handed down its judgment in relation to the appeal against the landmark decision of Justice Wilcox in Nikolich v Goldman Sachs J B Were Services Pty Ltd [2006] FCA 784. By a majority (2:1), the Full Federal Court upheld the orders made by Justice Wilcox at first instance, with the exception of orders as to costs.
Background
Mr Peter Nikolich accepted an offer of employment with Goldman Sachs J B Were Services Pty Ltd ("the Company") as an Associate Investment Adviser in May 2000. Prior to Mr Nikolich’s acceptance of the offer, the Company provided Mr Nikolich with a number of documents including a document titled ‘Working With Us’ ("WWU"), which was a significant document (119 pages) that covered many topics, such as employee health and safety, harassment and
