In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Fair Work Commission has made a determination to make temporary variations to 99 Awards. The changes come in response to the Fair Work Commission identifying a regulatory gap between COVID-19 public health and government directives and the protections an employee has under the Fair Work Act. The variations […]
NEW YEAR, BIG CHANGES! Do you pay your employees an “all up amount” annualised salary? For some awards there are significant changes on the way in 2020. Is your business ready? As part of the four yearly review of modern awards, the Fair Work Commission handed down a decision impacting annualised wage (salary) provisions in […]
By Catherine Tratsellas As we have highlighted in previous articles, a recent Federal Court of Australia decision found that employers who incorrectly classify and pay employees as casual, instead of full-time or part-time, could be responsible for backpaying various entitlements (e.g. annual leave) under the National Employment Standards (NES). However, the case did not that […]
A recent decision has been made by the Fair Work Commission (effective 1st October 2018) to include a casual employee conversion clause in 85 Modern Awards. Casuals, covered by those awards, have the right to request for their employer to convert their casual employment to permanent employment, if they have been undertaking a regular and […]
By Paul Ackerman Following a recent decision by the Fair Work Commission, Modern Awards have been amended effective August 2018 to give employees access to five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave each year. This followed a campaign run by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and supported by the 2015 Australian of […]
By Paul Ackerman The Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review decision came into effect from 1 July 2018. The decision delivered a 3.5% increase to both the national minimum wage and the minimum wage for all modern awards. The new national minimum wage will move to $719.20 per week or $18.93 per hour. This represents […]
By Paul Ackerman In recent months the Fair Work Ombudsman has begun auditing one thousand businesses across Australia as part of a new campaign to ensure employers have the basics right in their workplaces. Whilst many business owners may think they are doing everything necessary to meet their obligations, preliminary findings from the Workplace Basics […]
By Kate Renton, Employee Expert The Fair Work Ombudsman has begun to audit 1000 businesses across Australia, as part of a new campaign to make sure employers have the basics right in their workplaces. Your business could be one of their targets. The Workplace Basics campaign will see Fair Work Inspectors assist businesses with […]
You may have recently heard about the 7-Eleven debacle where a store owner was fined more than $400k (the largest penalty to date) for systematically exploiting his workers. He paid his workers as little as only $13 per hour and then falsified records in his payroll system. After being caught, he started to back-pay his […]
We recently had a new client approach us after an employee had alleged that there had been a breach of a general work protection, involving unfair dismissal, under the Fair Work Act 2009. Background The client was issued with an F8A response form by the Fair Work Commission which he was required to complete and […]