Cohen v iSoft Group Pty Ltd

The case of Cohen v iSoft Group Pty Ltd involved Dr Cohen, an employee of iSoft Group, seeking payment of his accrued leave, annual leave, long service leave, notice period, and a redundancy entitlement. Dr Cohen argued that these were due under an implied term of his employment, or alternatively, under State legislation and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The central dispute was the construction of Dr Cohen's employment contracts over the years, particularly regarding whether the contracts were entirely separate or if they supplemented each other, and whether the original employer remained the same or changed with company mergers and name changes.

The legal issues before the court included determining whether the various employment contracts were discrete or if they were part of a continuing employment relationship, and whether the employer remained the same entity throughout these changes. Additionally, the court had to ascertain whether Dr Cohen's employment was subject to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and whether he was entitled to redundancy benefits under the Act or under his employment contracts.

The court held that Dr Cohen's employment contracts, though executed at different times, were not entirely separate but rather supplementary to each other. The court applied an objective test to determine the intention of the parties and found that Dr Cohen's employment continued with the same employer despite changes in company names and structures. The court also concluded that Dr Cohen was not an Australian-based employee within the meaning of the Fair Work Act, as his duties in Australia were insubstantial. Therefore, the appeal was allowed, and the respondents were ordered to pay Dr Cohen his accrued leave, long service leave, annual leave, notice period payment, and interest on those amounts. Additionally, the respondents were ordered to pay Dr Cohen's costs of the appeal.