With the emergence of new online platforms such as Airbnb, employers are more frequently using these services for business accommodation for their travelling employees. Over 700,000 companies worldwide have signed up and used Airbnb for business travel to date, with 300% growth in bookings from 2016 to 2017 and again from 2017 to 2018. As […]
Is an injury at home still a workplace injury? Workplace injuries can be very costly for employers and it now looks like an employer’s liability could continue post-employment and extend to outside the workplace. In Roberts v Return to Work South Australia (2017), a former truck driver was awarded $17,351 in compensation for an injury […]
A Director of MCG Quarries was sentenced to 18 months in prison in May this year after a court found he failed his health and safety obligations resulting in the death of a young man who got tangled in a conveyor belt on a South Moranbah quarry in 2012. The court heard that, despite warnings […]
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has recently held that a labour hire employee transferring ‘in house’ was protected from unfair dismissal after finding that the transfer constituted a “transfer of business” for the purposes of meeting the minimum employment period required to bring a claim for unfair dismissal, being 6 months, on the basis of […]
With the festive season and Christmas rush approaching, the workplace can become stressful and prone to Work Health and Safety (WHS) risks. Christmas Parties going awry are not the only workplace legal risks employers need to be aware of during the festive period. SafeWork Australia statistics reported that the months of January, November and December […]
The New South Wales District Court (NSWDC) have imposed heavy penalties on both H & F Mechanical Pty Ltd (the Company) and business partners Max Hoffman and Laurence Hoffman (the Partnership) for modifying a timber cutting machine and knowingly allowing an employee to use the modified machine. The Partnership was found to have a Primary […]
A recent decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court (Federal Court) has highlighted the cost associated with misclassifying employees as casual. On 16 August 2018, the Federal Court found that a labour hire employee was entitled to annual leave benefits despite being ostensibly engaged as a casual by WorkPac Pty Ltd (WorkPac). The […]
On 5 September 2018, the Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018 (Vic) (the Act) passed through parliament. The Act will come into effect on 1 April 2019, and will grant portable long service leave to employees within the Community Services, Security and Contract Cleaning sectors. Under the new scheme, eligible employees will accumulate long service […]
On 19 June 2018 the Victorian Parliament passed The Labour Hire License Bill (Vic) by 21 votes to 19, minor amendments are to be returned to the lower house for endorsement. This introduction of labour licensing legislation follows the similar legislative changes in Queensland and South Australia and may add momentum to the introduction of […]
Unfair dismissal – 2018 – Updated Threshold in the Fair Work Jurisdiction As we settle into the 2018-2019 financial year, employers need to be aware of increases to key thresholds effective from 1 July, and how these impact on employees’ entitlements and unfair dismissal eligibility. From 1 July 2018, the high-income threshold increased from $142,000 to $145,400 […]