Briers v Skilled Group Limited

The dispute in *Briers v Skilled Group Limited* concerned the calculation of weekly payments for a worker experiencing incapacity. The appeal was heard by Porter, Wood, and Pearce JJ. The core of the disagreement lay in how to determine the worker's "normal weekly earnings" for the purpose of calculating compensation under the *Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (the Act).

The central legal issue before the court was the interpretation of "normal weekly earnings" and the "relevant period" for its calculation, particularly when a worker had been employed for less than 12 months. Specifically, the court had to determine whether separate periods of continuous employment with the same employer could be aggregated to establish the relevant period, or if only the last period of continuous employment prior to incapacity was to be considered.

The court reasoned that the definition of "relevant period" in the Act, which refers to "the period for which the worker was employed before the commencement of the period of incapacity," and further clarifies this as "the last period of continuous employment" if the worker has been employed for less than 12 months, unambiguously dictates that separate periods of employment cannot be aggregated. The court affirmed that the statutory language clearly indicated that only the most recent period of continuous employment was to be used for calculating normal weekly earnings.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed. The orders of the primary judge, which allowed an appeal from the Tribunal and quashed a determination of weekly payments, were upheld. The matter was remitted to the Tribunal for a redetermination of the worker's entitlement to weekly payments in accordance with the Court's interpretation of the relevant statutory provisions.