Employment National v Schanka

Employment National Pty Ltd (the employer) sought special leave to appeal from a decision of the Full Federal Court which had affirmed a judgment in favour of Mr Schanka (the employee). The dispute concerned the employee's claim for unpaid entitlements under the *Workplace Relations Act 1996* (Cth) (the Act). The employee had been employed by the employer from 1997 until his dismissal in 2003. The employer argued that the employee's claim was barred by the limitation period prescribed by the Act.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the employee's claim for unpaid entitlements was statute-barred. Specifically, the Court had to determine whether the limitation period for bringing such a claim commenced from the date the entitlements accrued or from the date of the employee's dismissal. This involved an interpretation of section 545 of the *Workplace Relations Act 1996* (Cth), which stipulated a limitation period of 6 years for claims relating to unpaid entitlements.

The High Court, in a joint judgment delivered by Gleeson CJ and McHugh J, held that the limitation period commenced from the date the entitlements accrued, not from the date of dismissal. Their Honours reasoned that the cause of action for unpaid entitlements arose when the employer failed to pay the amounts due, irrespective of whether the employment relationship had terminated. The Court affirmed the principle that a cause of action accrues when all the facts necessary to establish the claim have occurred. Consequently, the employee's claim, having accrued more than six years prior to its commencement, was indeed statute-barred.

Special leave to appeal was granted, the appeal was allowed, and the judgment of the Full Federal Court was set aside. The employee's claim was dismissed.