Monthly Update—Australian Labour & Employment, May 2014

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

With the release of the 2014/1025 Federal Government Budget in mid-May, the government's attention turned away from non-financial matters and, most relevantly for us, industrial relations. Accordingly, there has been little to report in the way of impending changes in industrial and employment law, although the Attorney-General did foreshadow potential changes to certain aspects of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) that could arise out of an upcoming Australian Law Reform Commission Report.

There have, however, been some interesting decisions of the Courts over the past month. In particular, in this Edition we consider a recent Federal Court decision regarding the incorporation of company policies into employment contracts and make some suggestions on best practice in this regard. We also consider a decision regarding the right of employers to be legally represented in proceedings before the Fair Work Commission. Thankfully, the decision