Employment Law Blog & News
Sexual Harassment and Miscarriage Leave Changes now in Effect
On 10 September 2021 the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Act 2021 (‘the Respect at Work Act’) came into effect after receiving royal assent. The Respect at Work Act has introduced changes to 3 separate pieces of existing legislation...
COVID-19: Recent Developments for Workplaces
Over the last few weeks both the NSW Government and the Federal Government have introduced a number of measures relating to combatting COVID-19 in the workplace. In this article we explain some of the key recent developments. Employees and NSW Areas of Concern...
FWO Updates Guidance on Mandatory Vaccinations, Uncertainty Remains
Last week, the Fair Work Ombudsman updated its guidance on COVID vaccinations in the workplace, including the question of whether employers can make vaccinations mandatory. The guidance includes both the following phrases: “While the Australian Government’s policy is...
Fitness Industry Award Found to Cover Highly Qualified Swim Coach
At a time when Australia is celebrating the victories of its Olympic swimmers in Tokyo, the swimming industry has simultaneously been subject to the scrutiny of the courts regarding the application of the Fitness Industry Award to swimming coaches. The Fitness...
Major changes to the Restaurant Award from 11 August 2021
The Fair Work Commission has confirmed its provisional view (as reported in our previous article), to make sweeping changes to the Restaurant Industry Award from 11 August 2021. The changes are expressed as temporary changes and will operate for an initial period of...
Lack of notice period in employment contract costs employer 9 months pay
Although there is no legal requirement for employers and employees to enter into a written employment contract, it is a certainly a very good idea to do so. For employees covered by a modern award there are very often legal requirements to set out various matters in...
Increase to Superannuation Rates from 1 July 2021 & Other Changes
From the 1 July 2021 there will be a number of important changes to they way superannuation works, we explain these below. Increase of super rate to 10% As discussed in our previous article, the rate of superannuation contributions is increasing from 9.5% to 10%...
Significant changes to the Restaurant Industry Award likely
The Fair Work Commission has given a provisional view that it agrees to an application from the Restaurant & Catering Industry Association (RCA) to vary the Restaurant Industry Award. The changes were proposed as a way to help business in the sector with the...
Abandonment issues: The pitfalls of treating employment as “abandoned”
In the recent decision of Mathew Rowe v SA Trailer & Chassis Equip [2021] FWC 2708 (12 May 2021), the Fair Work Commission found that an employer could not treat an employee as having abandoned his employment, and therefore the employer was held to have dismissed...
Changes to Casual Redundancy Payments & Termination Periods
Significant changes concerning casual employment were recently introduced to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) as part of the Federal Government’s plan to assist with the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. The amendments were introduced under the Fair Work Amendment...
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