Employment Law Blog & News
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...
Mandatory Vaccinations: FWC provides guidance
The Fair Work Commission has recently handed down its decision in Barber v Goodstart Early Learning, concerning an unfair dismissal application from an employee dismissed for refusing to have a flu vaccine. The case had to decide whether it was lawful and reasonable...
New sexual harassment laws to be legislated
Workplace sexual harassment has recently been in the spotlight due to allegations against the former Attorney General, Christian Porter and other officials. The Government has faced increased pressure to review workplace sexual harassment laws, which some consider to...
The end of JobKeeper… What next?
The JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme ended at midnight on 28 March 2021. For employers who were receiving the subsidy this has a number of important consequences, some obvious, some less so: Employers must now pay employees' wages without the assistance of the subsidy;...
Crazy clauses in modern awards: the building & construction industry
As an employment lawyer, I am often called upon to do presentations on "crazy clauses in modern awards". Modern awards are, of course, a set of regulations based on the industry and/or occupation of the employee that dictate rights and obligations in the Australian...
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