Cleandomain Pty Ltd v Christine Flavell

Cleandomain Pty Ltd sought to reduce the amount of redundancy pay owed to Christine Flavell, their former employee, in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Flavell had been employed by Cleandomain for approximately 21 years and was dismissed on 17 October 2019. The employer claimed that Flavell was entitled to only six weeks of redundancy pay, as opposed to the ten weeks Flavell calculated based on her years of service. The primary issue before the court was whether the employer could lawfully vary the amount of redundancy pay owed to Flavell under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The court examined the statutory provisions governing redundancy payments and whether the employer had the right to unilaterally reduce the amount of pay due to Flavell. The court noted that the Fair Work Act 2009 does not permit employers to reduce redundancy payments to less than the legislated minimum. In this case, the court found that Flavell was indeed entitled to ten weeks of redundancy pay based on her length of service. The employer's attempt to reduce this amount was held to be unlawful, as it contravened the clear provisions of the Act. Consequently, the court ruled in favour of Flavell and ordered Cleandomain to pay the full amount of ten weeks of redundancy pay as calculated by Flavell. The court's decision underscores the importance of adhering to the statutory minimums set by the Fair Work Act 2009 when determining redundancy payments.