Sladen Snippet - ‘Repair - not replace’ – Productivity Commission releases its hotly anticipated draft inquiry report
For some time now, the Productivity Commission (Commission) has been undertaking a public inquiry to examine the performance of the workplace relations framework in Australia and to identify improvements to it.
Today, the Commission released its hotly anticipated draft inquiry report. The report outlines the key issues identified so far during the inquiry, discusses some of the draft recommendations and findings, and outlines how stakeholders will be able to provide feedback.
NTEU opposes sessional teacher vote in enterprise bargaining
The Federal Court has revoked a decision made by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to approve the Swinburne University of Technology’s 2014 enterprise agreement (EA), due to the inclusion of casual or sessional employees in the voting process.
In February 2014 the University requested staff to vote in favour of the agreement, including individuals who had been engaged as sessional employees during the 2013 academic year. The University considered 2005 of the votes cast to be valid, and made an application to the FWC for approval based on a slim 57 majority votes in favour of the agreement.
Sladen Snippet - Big payout the result of an employer’s failure to make reasonable adjustments
In a recent case in the Federal Circuit Court an employer; Corrective Services New South Wales, was ordered to pay a former probation and parole officer employed by it the sum of $180,000 plus interest as a result of discriminatory treatment of her. The employee suffered from Crohn’s Disease and took sick leave on a number of occasions.
Sladen Snippet – New financial year – new employment pay rates and thresholds
Sladen Snippet - Minimum wage to rise 2.5%
Yesterday, the Fair Work Commission handed down its Annual Wage Review decision.
From 1 July 2015, the national minimum wage will be increased by 2.5% (equating to an increase of $16 per week) and the new weekly minimum wage will be $656.90 (or $17.29 an hour) .
Modern award rates will also be increased by 2.5% from 1 July.
Sladen Snippet – Safe Work Health and Safety Statistics
Safe Work Australia has released key statistics on work-related injuries, diseases and fatalities. While the report shows a downward trend in both worker fatalities and in the rates of serious injury over the period 2003 to 2013, the total number of serious workers’ compensation claims (117,815 in 2012-13) and worker fatalities (196 in 2013) are significant.
Sladen Snippet - Budget – Increased fines for breaching workplace laws
According to the latest budget handed down last night from Treasurer Joe Hockey, penalty units (ie. fines) for breaching federal laws are set to rise from $170.00 to $180.00 (per unit) from 31 July 2015.
The maximum penalty for a breach of the Fair Work Act 2009 is:
- 300 penalty units for a corporation; and
- 60 penalty units for an individual.
Moonlighting truck driver's dismissal unfair
A delivery driver whose employment was terminated after he worked for his employer's customer during his annual leave, has been awarded $12,864 compensation after the Fair Work Commission found his dismissal was harsh, unjust and unreasonable.
Sladen Legal's Joanna Shields has written an article, published in the April edition of Prime Mover, which outlines the case of a moonlighting truck driver who was unfairly dismissed.
Gender equality reporting requirements eased
Following last year’s consultation process with employers and interest groups in relation to current impediments and opportunities for streamlining the workplace gender equality reporting process, the Minister for Employment, Senator Eric Abetz, has announced a series of reporting amendments designed to ease the reporting obligations for employers.
No changes have been made to the gender equality framework under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Act).
New appointments for Commercial Disputes and Employment, IR and OHS teams
Sladen Legal is delighted to announce the appointments of Leneen Forde and Louise Houlihan (formerly partners of Cornwall Stodart Lawyers) as principals of the firm.
Louise is joined by senior associate, Jane O’Brien, and associate, Joanna Shields (also formerly of Cornwall Stodart Lawyers) and together they will strengthen Sladen Legal’s existing Employment, Industrial Relations and Occupational Health and Safety team.
Leneen has joined the existing litigation group and new recruit, Lawyer, Andrew Blyth, forming Sladen Legal’s new Commercial Disputes team.
Bullying in the modern workplace – how far can it extend?
The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has handed down an important interpretive decision concerning when a worker is bullied “at work”, for the purposes of the workplace bullying provisions under the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).
Current working practices now shadow the traditional workplace model, through increased mobility, work done outside of normal hours and the prevalence of social media. As a result, in recent years courts have been required to make findings about what performing work now looks like in the modern era.
The curtain falls on modern award transitional provisions
From 1 January 2010, thousands of state and federal awards were subsumed into 122 modern awards as part of an award simplification process. To allow employers and employees time to adjust, many modern awards contained transitional provisions, allowing employers to phase-in new modern award entitlements over a period of time, including payments in relation to minimum wages, piece work rates, casual or part-time loadings, shift allowances and penalties payable for work done on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. There were also transitional provisions in relation to accident make-up pay, district allowances, and higher redundancy pay.
Avoiding work party pitfalls
The end of 2014 is fast approaching and as we don our dancing shoes and toast to the successes of the year that was, employers need to remain mindful of the legal and HR risks that work parties can pose.
Whilst the end-of-year work party is a great way to reward staff and promote team bonding, the combination of alcohol and festive cheer can be a recipe for disaster. There are some precautions that employers can take to minimise the risk of a post-party ‘HR hangover’.
Trickle-down liability in the supply chain
“If you’re contracting out, and the price seems too good to be true, someone’s probably getting ripped off. And if it turns out to be the workers, and it turns out you half knew that, then you are in danger yourself of having been involved in a contravention”
These comments were made by Natalie James of the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) last month after the workplace regulator settled its long running prosecution with retail giant Coles, in connection with the unprecedented ‘trolley collectors case’. In an environment where outsourcing is prevalent and often complex, the prosecution of Coles has been a sobering reminder to the business community that lawmakers and regulators are sharpening their view on chain of responsibility.
Adverse action pinned down by the High Court
The High Court of Australia has handed down its second significant decision on the interpretation of the adverse action provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).
In 2012 the High Court made a decision in the case of Board of Bendigo Regional Institute of Technical and Further Education v Barclay, which provided employers with guidance on what must be established to defend a claim that adverse action had been taken against an employee for a prohibited reason. This case informed us that if the person who made the decision to sanction the aggrieved employee (such as a HR or operations manager) could provide cogent and credible evidence that no part of their decision involved a prohibited reason (such as participating in a lawful industrial activity), that would be sufficient to resist the employee’s claim.
Sladen Snippet - Withdrawing a benefit provided under your enterprise agreement may contravene your “no extra claims” clause
A Victorian water authority was found to have contravened the no extra claims clause in its enterprise agreement, in a decision handed down by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) last week. The authority made changes to a vehicle policy which provided some employees with limited private use of work vehicles. The enterprise agreement itself contained no provisions dealing directly with the provision or private use of motor vehicles.
Contracting Liability Exposed - The contractor / employee enigma
The decision over whether to engage employees or contractors in business is a complex problem that many struggle over. This article highlights a case that illustrates how getting it wrong can evoke dire consequences.
In 2013 the case of Ace Insurance Ltd v Trifunovski came up before the Federal Court. This case dealt with a claim by five insurance agents, who asserted that they were engaged as employees and not contractors. Their payment terms were on a commission basis from premiums they had collected. Each agent carried out their respective duties using their own car, and engaged their own secretarial support. The agents also issued tax invoices for their services and each agent was contracted to the insurer through a company. The insurer deemed them to be contractors, and didn’t pay them any leave entitlements.
Sladen Snippet - No Restraint, No Worries
Workplace Bullying - 3 Simple Ways to Prepare for the New Regime
With only 4 solid working weeks remaining, 2014 is already upon us. These coming weeks will be swallowed up by end of year functions and completing those jobs that were due back in July. While we admit we are adding another inconvenient issue to the plate, this alert is essential reading for all employers.