ClubsNSW Wins General Protections Application for NSW Masonic Club

Background 

A casual employee who had only worked six training shifts at the Club filed a general protections application against the Club in June 2023 claiming she was forced to resign from her employment. ClubsNSW submitted that the employee resigned from her role as she was not happy with receiving casual shifts and wanted more permanent work. 

Nicola Shaw, ClubsNSW Senior Legal Counsel and Lucinda Gramoski, ClubsNSW Legal Counsel, advocated for the Club from the initial conciliation up until the successful hearing and subsequent appeals filed by the employee. 

Decision                

Deputy President Boyce (DP Boyce) handed down his decision on 24 October 2023, dismissing the employee’s application and emphasising that the employee’s intentional acts, such as openly confirming her resignation to other employees by text message, returning her uniform to the Club and requesting the removal of her fingerprints, contradicted any notion of a ‘heat of the moment' resignation or being forced to resign.

DP Boyce found that much of the evidence relied upon by the employee was irrelevant to the question of whether or not she was dismissed by the Respondent. Furthermore, DP Boyce confirmed in his decision that the employee’s assertions:

“that she has been intimidated, mobbed, discriminated against, harassed, and coerced at the Respondent’s workplace (by any of the Respondent’s employees) hold no evidentiary foundation whatsoever. They are unfounded and nonsensical allegations designed to pollute these proceedings with scandal. I completely reject them.”

The Commission concluded that the employee’s employment ended at her own initiative and not due to any forced resignation or termination by the Club. The legitimate concerns raised by the general manager during a meeting on 15 June 2023 were deemed appropriate, and no actions by the Club were found to have led to the probable end of employee’s employment. 

What can clubs learn from this? 

When recruiting employees, clubs need to exercise caution to ensure that employees comprehend the specifics of their type of employment, including the terms outlined in their contract and job description. If a club needs to speak with a difficult employee, it is always a good idea to have a witness to these discussions and to offer a support person to the employee.  

If you need any advice on workplace relations issues, please contact ClubASSIST on 1300 730 001 and ask to speak with one of our workplace relations lawyers.