The Oi Group is an industrial law firm that provides industrial & employment law support to employers throughout Australia. Founded in 1996 and based in Melbourne, the group began as an industrial & employment law support organisation for both employers and employees. In 2003 it changed so as to exclusively support over 6050 private and public sector organisations across Australia. Employers with a valid Australian Business Number can become members of The Oi Group. The group does not have a specific affiliation with any industry.
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The group offers support to members on issues of Industrial & Employment Law. Support areas include award interpretation, unfair dismissal, industrial disputes, anti-discrimination, occupational health and safety, workers compensation, collective agreements, greenfield agreements, Australian Workplace Agreements, professional employment investigation and liability management.
Procedural Fairness
The Oi Group has represented in a number of full bench decisions, most notably including an appeal (Humphries v Cootamundra Ex-Services and Citizens Memorial Club Limited 2003) [1] before the Full Bench of the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission. This appeal was placed some 3 years and 5 months after the alleged unfair dismissal of casual bar attendant Joy Humphries from her employment.
The result of this important appeal has since been listed as specific case law by the Commission in relation to the issue of procedural fairness. The full bench concluded in favour of the employee and explicitly detailed in their conclusion (ratio decidendi) the very real problems that may arise where there is a failure by an employer to afford procedural fairness to an employee.
The decision of the full bench handed down in July 2003 was to order reinstatement of the employee to her former position even though she had been dismissed in March 2000. Compensation spanning the length of the termination of employment period was also awarded.
Probationary Employment
In another important case, The Oi Group appeared before the Full Bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission on behalf of an employer appealing the decision of Oslead Pty Ltd v Baier [2] which allowed an employee to claim unfair dismissal despite being on a probationary period of employment. For the first time a Full Bench of the Commission concluded that the construction of the Regulation was that, whilst the Regulation contemplated that a period of probation may be variable, the maximum possible period of probation must be determined in advance of the employment relationship. This case has been used as a guide by the Commission in all similar matters where it is argued that an employee's probationary period had been extended.