Power, Workforce Choices and Fairness: Redeployment After Redundancy

The High Court in Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd v Bartley confirms that, when deciding whether a dismissal is a genuine redundancy, the Fair Work Commission may consider reasonable changes to how an employer allocates work across employees and contractors. The Court held that redeployment does not require an existing vacancy and that s 389(2) permits a broad inquiry into whether redeployment would have been reasonable in all the circumstances. This matters for modern enterprises that rely on blended workforces: redeployment outcomes can turn on contract flexibilities, anticipated workload changes and the practical availability of contractor-performed tasks. For clients, the strategic risk is financial — the dispute’s trajectory and cost exposure may shift as tribunals examine hypothetical pathways. Structuring matters through one-path funding helps ensure that when these evaluative assessments expand, cost-alignment keeps the client’s position clear and controlled.