DNBP and Secretary, Department of Employment

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between DNBP (the applicant) and the Secretary, Department of Employment, concerning an advance payment made under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) scheme. The applicant sought to recover a redundancy payment that had not been paid by their former employer.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant was entitled to a redundancy payment under the terms of their employment, specifically whether such an entitlement existed prior to 1 January 2010, when redundancy pay became a National Employment Standard. The Tribunal also had to consider whether the applicant was the "recipient" of the advance payment, given it was paid through an intermediary, and whether the clerical award governing their employment provided for redundancy pay.

Deputy President Forgie P reasoned that the applicant's employment agreement with their employer did not contain any provision for redundancy pay. While redundancy pay was introduced into the National Employment Standards from 1 January 2010, the applicant's employment concluded before this date, and no redundancy entitlement was established by the governing award or the employment agreement. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant was not entitled to a redundancy payment under the FEG scheme.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision that the applicant was not entitled to the advance payment.