Leading employment lawyers say the judgement has important implications for employers making redundancy decisions

The High Court has issued its hotly anticipated decision in Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd v Bartley [2025] HCA 29.

In short, the High Court has found that, when considering a ‘genuine redundancy’, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) can consider whether it would have been reasonable to redeploy an employee to a role otherwise performed by a contractor.

The decision has important implications for employers making redundancy decisions.

Background of the case

A redundancy occurs where a business no longer requires an employee’s position to be performed.

That is not the end of the matter however.

Indeed, if the employer wants protection from an unfair dismissal claim in a redundancy scenario, it will need to:

• consult with the employee and/or the employee’s representative in accordance with any applicable award or enterprise agreement; and
• consider options for redeploying the employee to another role/position and redeploy the employee if this is reasonable in the circumstances.

The decision

The High Court decision examined the dismissal of a group of employees at a coal mine operated by Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd (Helensburgh Coal).

Due to a sharp decline in business, Helensburgh Coal reduced the size of its workforce, which involved dismissing direct employees due to redundancy and reducing the number of contractors performing similar roles.

During the dismissal process, the...

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