Employment law
Bandit Heeler owns and operates a business manufacturing drainpipes, Drainpipes R Us (DRU).
In accordance to Bandit write your advice as to the legal framework applicable to the following situations which have arisen with his employees:
- Bluey works for Bandit as a full-time travelling saleswoman. This role involves her travelling to different businesses in order to convince them to stock DRU’s drainpipes. Bluey is unhappy as she feels she is not receiving her correct entitlement to rest breaks during working hours, nor does she believe her hours of work are being recorded correctly. In terms of the rest breaks, Bandit allows her to decide when to take her breaks, and for how long to take them, but she must always remain contactable should Bandit or a client need to get in touch with her at short notice. Bluey further believes her time spent travelling should be considered working time, whereas Bandit disagrees and tells her “if you’re driving, you aren’t working”.
- Bandit is becoming increasingly frustrated with another of his employees, Chilli. The reason for his frustration is that Chilli has only worked for Bandit for two months but has already been absent from work on three separate occasions. First, Chilli had to take two days off work as her child was sent home sick from school. Second, Chilli missed work for a day as her sister, who lives with her, was having what Chilli described as a “down day” and required Chilli’s support. Finally, Chilli was absent for five hours of her nine-hour shift after her best friend, Trixie, called her asking for help. Trixie had broken her leg and needed Chilli to take her to the hospital.
- Stripe also works for Bandit. Stripe considers himself to be a libertarian who strongly believes in free choice and personal autonomy. He feels that the Covid-19 pandemic is a hoax perpetrated by governments around the world and regularly expresses these views to his colleagues. He also refuses to use 5G phones. Stripe feels that he has missed out on promotion opportunities due to his beliefs and he is also unhappy that his colleagues engage in what they call “workplace banter” by referring to him as “that conspiracy clown”.
- Bingo started working for Bandit three months ago and she has just discovered that her predecessor in the role, Mackenzie, was paid considerably more than her. She has raised this issue with Bandit who informed Bingo that Mackenzie did indeed get paid more than her but (a) that is because he had worked at DRU for 15 years and (b) while Bingo may be paid less than Mackenzie, Bandit provides Bingo with a more generous annual leave allowance, and as many free drainpipes as Bingo may need. Mackenzie’s annual leave entitlement was much lower and he did not receive the free drainpipes perk.
Word limit: 2,000 words (+/- 10%)*
* Students should use their discretion in deciding what proportion of this overall word limit is to be dedicated to each specific part. All parts carry equal marks.