Bampton v Viterra Limited

(2015) 123 SASR 80; [2015] SASCFC 87

South Australia Full Court

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Employment Law
2. › Contract of service
3. › Rights and duties of employer and employee
4. › Employer's power to vary duties
5. › Whether employer entitled to unilaterally reduce scope of employee's managerial responsibilities
6. › Limits on employer's power to direct performance of different duties
1. Employment Law
2. › Termination and breach of contract
3. › Redundancy
4. › Construction of contractual redundancy provision
5. › Whether restructuring of position constitutes redundancy
6. › Whether employer's decision 'led to' termination of employment
7. › Evaluative assessment of fact and degree
1. Contract
2. › General contractual principles
3. › Discharge, breach and defences
4. › Repudiation
5. › What amounts to repudiation
6. › Whether employer's decision to abolish position and offer lesser role constituted repudiation
7. › When repudiation accepted
1. Contract
2. › Construction and interpretation
3. › Construction of employment contracts
4. › Implied terms as to scope of duties
5. › Whether duties can be unilaterally varied

Quick Take

Whether a restructuring of an employee's position constitutes redundancy under a contractual redundancy provision requires an evaluative assessment of fact and degree — neither any substantive change to any material aspect of the position, nor only the complete elimination of all duties, will suffice. The key question is whether the changes are so substantial that for practical purposes the role no longer exists. Separately, an employer's power to direct an employee to perform different duties is limited by the nature of the position for which the employee was engaged; a direction that effects a demotion to a lesser managerial position will breach the employment contract even if remuneration is unchanged.