Employment laws have never changed more rapidly. On 8 April 2020, the Federal Government introduced the Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus (Measures No. 2) Act 2020 (Cth). This legislation amends the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) as part of the new JobKeeper scheme. Importantly, it provides employers with more options to manage wage costs. [...]
COVID-19 has created a fast-changing workplace relations space. There have never been so many options available to businesses to manage their wage costs. More are likely to come. Below are six ways for employers to (currently) manage wage costs. 1. Stand down Many businesses are standing down employees. However, employers should tread carefully before doing [...]
2019 may be remembered as the year where workplace relations gained prominence in the mainstream media. Matters involving celebrity chefs, Israel Folau and union bosses regularly made the front page. Yet behind the headlines were a number of significant developments in employment law. In our “Christmas Wrap-Up” we look at five of these developments, [...]
After months of agonising, you make a tough decision. The business is going to make (or propose) redundancies. Now you need to think about implementation. Which position(s) should be made redundant? How am I going to break the news? Should redeployment be offered? Can redundant employees bring an unfair dismissal claim? Below we share our [...]
The High Court recently upheld laws which effectively provide that Australian Public Service (“APS”) employees can be dismissed for anonymous out-of-hours political communication. The Court held that these laws are not unconstitutional. In this article we discuss the recent High Court decision in Comcare v Banerji [2019] HCA 23. We explain why Ms Banerji argued [...]
Celebrity chef and former Masterchef judge George Calombaris has been engulfed in criticism recently. The scale of underpayments made by restaurants associated with him and the nature of regulatory action taken against those restaurants by the Fair Work Ombudsman (“FWO”) has re-ignited demands for new ‘wage theft’ laws to address non-compliance with Australia’s workplace laws. [...]
The recent Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission decision in Lee v Superior Wood [2019] FWCFB 2946 may limit the circumstances where an employer can safely dismiss an employee for failing to follow certain workplace policies. In this case, an employee was dismissed because he refused (after repeated warnings) to use an employer’s biometric [...]
Given the recent interest in our seminars regarding dismissing employees who are incapable of performing their job because of illness or injury, we are republishing our article from October 2018. This article discussed the recent change in approach to capacity-based dismissals taken by the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission. CSL Limited v Chris [...]
In a recent decision, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has decided that modern award annualised wage clauses will be substantially changed. What are Annualised Wage Clauses? Broadly speaking, annualised wage clauses are award provisions which allow employers to pay employees an annualised wage (i.e. a salary) instead of paying the employee for [...]
A key part of being in business is managing risk and protecting your business interests. When it comes to your employees, one of the key ways to do this is through well drafted employment contracts. All too often clients approach us where a former employee has brought a claim against the business. A common feature [...]
