Under section 524 of the Fair Work Act 2009; I understand that…

Hello and thank you for your question.

Under section 524 of the Fair Work Act an employer can only stand down an employee for the reasons set out in subsection 1 of the provision or in circumstances permitted by an enterprise agreement or employment contract:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fwa2009114/s524.html

So he cannot simply stand you down because of a lack of work, unless he can demonstrate that the lack of work has occurred for reasons that the employer cannot reasonably be held responsible for. So the legality of your stand down will depend on why there is insufficient work, which can only be assessed on a case by case basis.

The fact your employer still has a casual employee working for him is not really relevant, as it does not necessarily mean that he has enough work for you in your full time role. Of course, if at some point you had to litigate the matter, the fact a casual was still employed would be evidence that there was some work, but that is not enough to demonstrate that you, a full time worker should not be stood down in the circumstances of your case.

If you think the circumstances of your being stood down have arisen because of some obvious failure of your employer or because of a deliberate decision of the company to eliminate your role, then I would strongly suggest you contact Fair Work Australia and/or the Fair Work Ombudsman to discuss your situation in more detail. In some case the Fair Work Ombudsman may even take action on your behalf, but at the very least they can clarify your award entitlements and suggest alternative action which you might take. Depending on your circumstances you may be entitled to bring a general protection claim and there is considerable information about such proceedings on the Fair Work Australia website.

http://www.fwa.gov.au/

http://www.fairwork.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

I trust the above assists your understanding.

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Thank you,

Patrick