In important, breaking news, a comprehensive final report was released on 26 February 2019 on the first national review of the model Work Health and Safety laws, which was independently conducted by Marie Boland, the former Executive Director of SafeWork South Australia, in December 2018 (the Review). The Review includes 34 recommendations to amend legislation […]
For the first time, two employers in Australia have been sentenced to prison for breaching Australia’s WHS laws. Two recent cases involving deaths contributed to by employer negligence in the workplace illustrate the need to put safety at the fore of any business as a small business owner, and a Company Director, have both been […]
Labor’s pre-election commitments to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (VIC) (the Act) announced in May last year, are set to be implemented after a landslide win in Victoria in November 2018. If implemented, the changes will increase the maximum fine for death caused by an employer’s negligence to nearly $16 million, making it […]
In a recent landmark decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) which will no doubt have widespread implications for the Australian ‘gig-economy’, the FWC has held that a former Foodora Australia Pty Ltd (Foodora) delivery driver (the Worker) was an employee and not an independent contractor, “despite the attempt to create the existence of an […]
Case #1 In a recent decision, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) held that the demotion of a service supervisor (the Employee) to that of a mechanical service technician constituted dismissal within the meaning of s 386 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act). This decision was made despite a clause in the relevant […]
The Fair Work Commission has released its annual report for 2017-2018. We set out some of the key aspects of the report as follows: General Protections 4,117 general protection applications involving dismissal were lodged (up from 3,729 last year and steadily increasing from 3,270 in 2015-2016). Of the finalised applications, 27% were finalised with a […]
It has been widely reported that food delivery company Foodora Australia Pty Ltd (Foodora) recently closed its Australian operations. Foodora’s closure had created great uncertainty over two significant cases recently brought against Foodora for alleged use of sham contracting to underpay its workers. The two cases were expected to be pivotal in the ongoing battle […]
Earlier this year, the Fair Work Commission Full Bench (FWCFB) ruled on updating all industry and occupation awards to include a clause enabling most employees to take up to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave (FDV Leave) per year. As of 1 August 2018, 2.3 million Australian employees under Modern Awards now […]
A recent decision by the Federal Court of Australia (FCA) has demonstrated the importance of accurate and up to date record keeping, particularly relating to the payment of employees. The FCA has recently imposed a fine of almost $100,000 on a former Caltex franchisee (Mr Dagher) who was found to be falsifying the wage records […]
The Fair Work Commission (the Commission) has recently rejected a postal worker’s (the Applicant) claim for over $200,000 in alleged underpayments relating to overtime, rest relief and meal allowances (the Entitlements) throughout the course of his employment with Australia Post (the Respondent). The Applicant worked as both a Postal Delivery Officer (PDO) and Postal Services […]