Scaturro and Secretary, Attorney General's Department

This matter concerned an application by Mr Scaturro for review of a decision affirming a previous decision that he was not entitled to certain payments under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) Act. The dispute centred on whether Mr Scaturro was entitled to long service leave and redundancy pay, and whether his employer, DTE Fluid Systems Pty Ltd, qualified as a small business employer at the time of his termination. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine these entitlements.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mr Scaturro had completed more than seven years of continuous employment to qualify for long service leave, and whether he had been issued a notice of termination. Crucially, the Tribunal also had to determine if DTE Fluid Systems Pty Ltd was a small business employer immediately before the termination of Mr Scaturro's employment, as this status could affect his eligibility for redundancy pay under the FEG Act.

The Tribunal considered the evidence regarding Mr Scaturro's employment history, including his prior employment with RCR Mining Pty Ltd and his commencement date with DTE Fluid. It examined the timeline of activities Mr Scaturro claimed to have performed for DTE Fluid prior to his official start date. The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the definition of continuous employment and the specific criteria for small business employer status under the relevant legislation. The Tribunal ultimately affirmed the decision under review, finding that Mr Scaturro was not entitled to the claimed payments.