Latest publications
‘Tis the Season to Avoid Folly: Workplace Christmas Parties (Covid-19 Edition)
It’s that time of year. The‘Silly Season’. For many organisations, the official employer Christmas party is imminent. But this year, 2020, it’s with a difference. Employer Christmas parties will be held against the backdrop of the global Covid-19 pandemic. The starting point for such parties is that they are an extension of…
AFL: Assumption Fail Legalities – A Discrimination Danger for Employers
It has recently been reported that a Victoria-based AFL player, whose professional netballer wife will be playing for a Queensland club in 2021 (and relocating to that state with the couple’s very young child to do so), has been told by the AFL club for which he plays that he should leave…
The Anti-Bullying Injunction Curtailed
The Fair Work Commission Anti-Bullying ‘Injunction’ In the 2017 anti-bullying case, Lynette Bayly [2017] FWC 1886 (Bayly), the Fair Work Commission (FWC) issued an interim order which prevented the employer from taking further steps to finalise an investigation into the conduct of the employee, impose any disciplinary sanction on the…
“Reasonable Notice” – Sounds innocuous but can be expensive
It is a trite proposition that employment contracts are important. One key benefit of having an applicable employment contract in place governing an employment relationship is that the notice an employer is required to give to the employee to terminate employment is, subject to the minimum legislative requirements in the Fair…
JobKeeper 2.0: What employers need to know
On 1 September 2020, the Federal Government passed the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (JobKeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020 which has enabled the extension of the JobKeeper scheme. In this article we summarise the main points of the extended scheme, dubbed JobKeeper 2.0. Employer eligibility When the JobKeeper scheme was originally implemented…
Right to toilet break a relief for employees
In the recent decision of Retail and Fast Food Workers Union Incorporated v Tantex Holdings Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1258, an Australian court (namely the Federal Court) has, for the first time, held that employees have a workplace right to use the toilet and drink water while at work. This determination was made…
Your website users could expose you to copyright infringement
Your website is under your control and you should ensure that all the material which you place on your website does not infringe the copyright of others. Regular auditing of your own website content is therefore advisable to avoid copyright infringement. However, in certain industries, such as personnel, education and…
Intellectual Property in a Cyber World
Intellectual property is the legal asset in innovation. The value of innovation to a business depends on the extent to which that innovation is directed to the needs of the relevant market. If an innovation meets that need effectively and uniquely, it can provide that business with substantially increased revenue and…
Can we build better buildings in NSW?
The construction industry in New South Wales is in crisis and has been at an impasse for a prolonged period of time. The question as to why we have so many building defects, particularly in multi-storey residential apartment buildings, was being asked long before the Opal and Mascot tower disasters and…
NSW Construction Industry Reform
The NSW Building Commissioner, David Chandler OAM, is at the ready with ‘boots on the ground’, to ‘rid the industry of dangerous builders, developers and certifiers’ and improve consumer confidence in the buying of residential apartments in NSW with the commencement on 1 September 2020 of the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance…