In or about March 2020, restrictions imposed to manage the circumstances of COVID-19 impacted many Australian businesses. To cushion COVID-19’s impact on employers and employees, on 28 March 2020 the Fair Work Commission (‘the FWC’) issued a decision enabling the insertion of a new schedule into the Clerk – Private Sector Award 2020 (‘the Clerks […]
COVID-19 has shattered workplace norms about how traditional work is carried out, by ushering in a new and unprecedented ‘work-from-home’ culture (WFH). Technology has also facilitated the extension of work, connecting employers and employees virtually at all hours of the day. Consequently, remote working arrangements and technology advances have blurred the lines between worker’s professional […]
Frozen at 9.5% for the last six years, discussion has fired up about the superannuation guarantee (SG) increase this July. The SG rate is scheduled to increase by 0.5% to 10% on 1 July 2021, with incremental increases to 12% by 2025. However, it remains unclear whether all the increases will be implemented. Federal Government […]
The substantially reduced IR omnibus Bill passed Parliament on Monday 22 March 2021. Following contentious public scrutiny and prolonged debate, the House of Representatives passed the pared-back version of the ambitious Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 (the Bill) which proposed a raft of changes to be introduced to the […]
With the end of JobKeeper payments to thousands of Australian businesses and workers, uncertainty about job and income security in the post-covid era has intensified. On the 28th of March 2021, the largest Australian fiscal package in history came to an end. As an emergency economic response to COVID-19, the JobKeeper wage subsidy saved at […]
On Thursday 15 April 2021 the Fair Work Commission (FWC) will convene a conference to commence the process of reviewing of casual terms in modern awards in light of the recent changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) (Casual Terms Review). The Casual Terms Review will be undertaken in a two-stage approach. […]
Wage underpayment in the fast-food industry is in the limelight again, after a Federal Circuit Court recently imposed fines of up to $58,000 against a company and its directors (the Directors), who operated a Chatime franchise in Sydney’s CBD. Acting upon advice received from the Franchisor, the Directors underpaid 17 employees by paying ‘age-based’ and […]
Safe Work Australia have recently released Australia’s first comprehensive Work Health and Safety (WHS) guidance (the Guide) focusing predominantly on workplace sexual harassment. The Guide aims to support businesses and organisations in meeting their WHS duties and provides useful risk identification strategies for the purposes of preventing and responding to sexual harassment. The Guide focuses […]
Comcare have accepted CSIRO’s enforceable undertaking (the Undertaking) made in response to a serious work, health, and safety (WHS) incident which occurred in mid-2017 (the Incident). The Incident itself involved the ignition of hydrogen gas at CSIRO premises in Clayton, Victoria, which resulted in an explosion, injuries to a worker, and extensive damage of a […]
In the recent decision of the District Court (Court) in Safe Work NSW v Easy Fall Guttering Pty Limited, a company was charged with three separate offences under the Work, Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (the Act) which occurred as a result of a serious workplace incident. This case demonstrates the critical importance of […]