As part of the four yearly review of modern awards which we briefly summarised In our November edition of Vision in the Workplace, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has handed down a decision which affects employers paying annualised salaries to employees covered by modern awards. Employers who currently pay annualised salaries to certain award-covered employees […]
Thank you to everyone who attended our Christmas Breakfast Seminar on Friday, 6 December 2019. We trust everyone enjoyed the breakfast and opportunity to mingle and network with other clients. Angharad Owens-Strauss’ presentation offered a simplified refresher on the termination process. Angharad covered the key issues of: redundancy, underperformance and what constitutes serious misconduct. Her […]
A talented young football player, Mark Moric, is taking legal action in the Federal Circuit Court against the Mariners Football Club (the Club) for more than $60,000 in unpaid wages and damages. Mr Moric alleges that he worked for free for almost four months under what the Club labelled as a ‘trial period’. He also […]
Starting in 2020, the Fair Work Commission will extensively vary existing awards as a result of the 4 yearly review of modern awards. The review of the first group of 31 awards has been completed. The varied awards have been issued and will commence operation on 4 February 2020. To find out which awards have […]
The Senate has approved an inquiry into the causes, extent and effects of unlawful non-payment or underpayment of employees’ remuneration by employers and measures to address this issue. The successful Senate vote on 13 November 2019, referred the inquiry to the Economics References Committee. This came as a result of successful push by Labor Senators […]
In a warning for employers to ensure sexual harassment complaints are taken seriously and investigated appropriately, the South Australian Employment Tribunal has awarded $30,000 in general damages against Adelaide supermarket, Pasadena Foodland for failing to properly and externally investigate a sexual harassment complaint against its head chef. The Facts – Allegations thought to be “nothing […]
Welcome to our new “How To” series of ‘Safety in the Workplace – WHS Quarterly’. This 4 part series will offer employers a practical and easy to follow guide on how to ensure best practice and protect your business from a Work Health and Safety perspective. In recent years, there has been a slow but […]
The NSW Liberal Government has recently rejected the introduction of new industrial manslaughter laws, with the NSW Minister for Better Regulation, Kevin Anderson claiming the new laws “sound tough but are little more than a catchy title”. The rejection came as somewhat of a surprise given Queensland and the ACT have already adopted industrial manslaughter […]
A former Rotary International (Rotary) employee has been awarded $205,000 by the Federal Circuit Court for his premature dismissal. This decision provides an expensive reminder that employers must be cautious not to “manufacture” or speed up a dismissal, especially when there is a complaint involved or if the employee is close to retirement age. The […]
Welcome to our new Checklist Series segment of Vision in the Workplace. This 4 part series will offer employers an insight into various risks encountered in the modern workplace and provide tips on how best to mitigate these risks. In this first checklist, we examine why the following are important areas to consider to ensure […]