Sladen Snippet – Hefty fine incurred for failure to pay proper notice

Sladen Snippet – Hefty fine incurred for failure to pay proper notice

Failure to pay to an employee proper notice resulted in a HR Manager and the company she worked for being fined in the Federal Circuit Court in Adelaide.

The employee was paid some notice, but not the whole of the notice period required by the Fair Work Act. This underpayment resulted in the employee being underpaid $181.66 (two days’ notice) as a result. 

The HR Manager conceded in the hearing that she knew of the requirements to pay proper notice, but the company claimed confusion had arisen as a result of the interaction of the provisions of the workers compensation legislation in South Australia regarding termination of employment and the Fair Work Act.  The Federal Circuit Court did not accept this as a reasonable excuse, stating the company should have paid the notice as provided by the Act.

Sladen Snippet - Fair Work amendments get "green" light from Senate

Sladen Snippet - Fair Work amendments get "green" light from Senate

The Senate has passed a number of amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009, however the Government has been unable to attract sufficient support from cross-benchers for several key proposed changes, which have now been omitted from the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014.

The passed amendments are significant and include:

  • establishing a new process for negotiation of greenfields agreements by extending good faith bargaining to the negotiation of these agreements and providing an optional six month negotiation timeframe for the parties to reach agreement (following which an employer can apply to the Fair Work Commission (Commission) for approval of its agreement);
  • providing new requirements to prevent employees from taking protected industrial action unless bargaining has commenced (either voluntarily or because a majority support determination has been made);
  • imposing an obligation on employers to discuss with employees a refusal to grant an extension to unpaid parental leave.

Sladen Snippet - VCAT orders $20,000 compensation for the “shock” arising from a production worker’s discriminatory dismissal

Sladen Snippet - VCAT orders $20,000 compensation for the “shock” arising from a production worker’s discriminatory dismissal

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has found that a confectionary company directly discriminated against a 63 year-old production worker when it dismissed him because of a disability, and has ordered the company to pay him $20,000 compensation for the shock caused by the dismissal.

The worker had been employed by the company for almost 30 years and had previously suffered chronic “tennis elbow” (which had arisen as a result of his employment but had fully resolved at the time of dismissal). Relying upon a medical report that warned the company the condition could flare up if he maintained his regular duties, the company terminated the employee’s employment effective immediately.

Sladen Snippet - Head Contractors must have a “Fitness for Work” Policy by 16 October 2015

Sladen Snippet - Head Contractors must have a “Fitness for Work” Policy by 16 October 2015

The Workplace Relations Management Plan (WRMP) requirements under the Building Code 2013 (Code) have been amended to include a requirement that principal contractors have a fitness for work policy to manage alcohol and other drugs in the workplace.

Amongst other things, the policy must include:

  • detection methods;
  • substances tested;
  • a requirement for frequent and periodic random testing of the workforce; and
  • an outline of how workers affected by drugs and alcohol will be counselled, assisted and disciplined.

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Sladen Snippet - ‘Repair - not replace’ – Productivity Commission releases its hotly anticipated draft inquiry report

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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

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

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.

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Sladen Snippet – New financial year – new employment pay rates and thresholds

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Sladen Snippet – New financial year – new employment pay rates and thresholds

The 2015/16 new financial year commencing this Wednesday will also bring into effect new minimum pay rates and thresholds.

According to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), from 1 July 2015, the following changes will take effect

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Sladen Snippet - Minimum wage to rise 2.5%

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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.

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Sladen Snippet – Safe Work Health and Safety Statistics

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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

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

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

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).

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New appointments for Commercial Disputes and Employment, IR and OHS teams

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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?

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

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

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

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.