Should the Federal Government Criminalise Wage Theft? There is pressure on the Federal Government to outlaw wage theft as an anti-competitive practice following a Senate inquiry on unlawful unemployment. A majority report by the Economics References Committee released last week by Labor, Greens and Independent Senators made 19 recommendations to stop the unlawful underpayment of […]
For over the past 20 years, companies have struggled with the question of who will be an employee and who will be an independent contractor. Previously, the courts would apply a ‘multifactorial test’ which would examine a range of indicia to examine the ‘totality’ of the employment relationship to decide whether the worker is an […]
In January 2022, Safework NSW (“Safework”) has amended its statement of regulatory intent with respect to COVID-19. The noticeable omission from the statement was the explicit protections, that were discussed by the National Cabinet, to protect employers who do not mandate vaccinations. In fact, Australia’s premiers and chief ministers agreed at an August 2021 meeting […]
In an Australian first, Western Australia has formally recognised insecure work in its new Code of Practice on Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace (“the Code”), which provides practical guidance on how Western Australia workplaces can comply with their duties under the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984. A psychosocial hazard is defined as any social […]
Background In May 2020, five labour hire workers sustained severe burns after a Queensland coal mine exploded due to “spontaneous combustion” of highly explosive methane gas. An investigation into the explosion (“the Investigation”) conducted by the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry (“BOI”) found that duty holders of the mine had failed to take “timely […]
Stevens & Associates are excited to announce the launch of our Modern Award Audit Package (“the Audit Package”) which you can check out by clicking here. The Audit Package offers a fixed fee $2000.00 review of your Company’s compliance with the relevant Modern Awards and underlying employment law legislation and regulations. We believe conducting an audit […]
A recent case heard in the Fair Work Division of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (“FCFCA”) has raised some interesting questions around whether a new employer can terminate for serious misconduct that occurred during the course of work with a former employer. In this case, an accountant (“the Applicant”) is challenging his […]
Mr Sathananthan (“the Applicant”) claimed he was being constructively dismissed from his employer (“the Respondent”) after being expected to work excessive hours well beyond his contractual terms. As this case will demonstrates, employers ought to be aware that resignation by an employee does not necessarily prevent an employee from making a successful unfair dismissal claim. […]
The Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) has rejected an allegation of bullying made by an employee of a charitable organisation (“the Organisation”). Mr Garcia (“the Employee”) claimed that he had been bullied under s 759FC of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“FWA”), accusing the organisation of giving his usual shifts to another employee because he […]
Food delivery riders and drivers must be paid under the same rules as other truck and van couriers, in a ruling by the Fair Work Commission, though it only applies to workers who are employed rather than the contractor workforce of companies like Uber and Deliveroo. This decision has dealt a blow to delivery giant […]