Tomvald v Toll Transport Pty Ltd

The case of Tomvald v Toll Transport Pty Ltd involved the employee, Mr Tomvald, who sought to establish that his employment was of a permanent nature rather than casual. He also sought conversion to a permanent position, compensation for adverse action taken by the employer, and penalties for contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The central legal issues were whether Mr Tomvald was engaged as a casual or permanent employee, if there was a right to convert to permanent employment, if there was adverse action taken against him, and the quantum of compensation and penalties owed. The court found that Mr Tomvald was indeed engaged as a casual employee, his employment had the character of casual employment, and he remained a casual employee throughout. Despite this, he had a right to convert his employment to a permanent position on a "like for like" basis, which the employer failed to do. Additionally, the court determined that there was no adverse action taken against Mr Tomvald, as the decisions to cap his hours and change his start time were based on commercial considerations unrelated to the exercise of his workplace rights. The court ordered that penalties be paid to Mr Tomvald for various contraventions of the Fair Work Act and that compensation be awarded. The court also granted declaratory relief in respect of the contraventions found. The final orders required the parties to agree on the quantum of compensation or, in the event of failure to agree, to outline the matters of disagreement. Additionally, the court reserved the right for either party to re-list the matter within 48 hours’ notice.