Janet Bendall and Brackley Park Pty Ltd [1995] IRCA 46

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COURT OF AUSTRALIA VICTORIA DISTRICT REGISTRY

VI 2135 of 1994

BETWEEN:

JANET BENDALL Applicant

AND

brackley park pty ltd Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT (EX TEMPORE)

23 February 1995 Judicial Registrar Staindl

Lee Freedman trains race horses. He is a director of a company known as Brackley ParK Pty Ltd and it is through this company that Mr Feedman sought to hire a personal assistant in late 1994.

In September of that year he contacted a personnel agency known as Alectus. As a result of this the position of personal assistant was advertised in 'The Age' with a salary of $40,000.00 per annum. The applicant Janet Bendall replied to this advertisement and was subsequently interviewed on two occasions for the job. At the second interview there was some discussion about the salary and it was agreed that she would be paid $45,000.00 per annum together with superannuation.

By letter dated 4 October 1994 the respondent offered the applicant the job. The starting date was nominated as Monday 7 November 1994 following the Melbourne Cup carnival in Melbourne. The applicant was asked to sign a copy of this letter and return it to acknowledge her acceptance of the offer of employment. She did this.

The applicant's personal circumstances need to be mentioned. She is almost 43 years of age and is a single parent with an 8 year old daughter. The job with the respondent was attractive to her because there was a deal of flexibility about her hours of work. She was told by Mr Freedman that she would be able to leave at 4:00pm each day to pick up her daughter and complete her work at home of an evening.

At about the same time as the applicant was first interviewed for her job with the respondent she was also interviewed for a job in the Premier's office at a salary of $37,000.00 per annum. She was offered this job and accepted it although at the time said she had been interviewed for another job and would accept it if it were offered to her. She was employed in the Premier's office for a period of 5 weeks and I accept that this was both permanent and secure employment. She gave notice in this job once she was told that she had been successful in her job application with the respondent. She finished up work there on 21 October, ready to start in her new job on 7 November.