Latest publications
Five employment law cases that shook the world: #5 — Service as a casual counts for redundancy pay
As part of a series of articles we are examining five employment law cases that shook the world (or at least members of the Australian HR community). Casual employees are entitled to a loading (or uplift) on the minimum wages paid to permanent employees (usually 25%). It is well understood that the higher…
Five employment law cases that shook the world: #4 No redundancy consultation, no unfair dismissal
As part of a series of articles we are examining five employment law cases that shook the world (or at least members of the Australian HR community). Section 385 of the Fair Work Act 2009 provides that a claim for unfair dismissal cannot be made if the dismissal was a case of “genuine redundancy”…
Protect the Intellectual Property in your Website
In setting up a website, it is essential to include standard terms which address such issues as liability disclaimers, user access terms and privacy policy. However, it is also important to ensure that your own intellectual property is fully protected and that you do not infringe the IP rights of others. 1…
The First Category 1 WHS Prosecution in New South Wales: The Meaning of “Reckless”
The recent decision of the District Court in Stephen James Orr v Cudal Lime Products Pty Ltd; Stephen James Orr v Simon Shannon [2018] NSWDC 27 is the first to deal with a category 1 prosecution in New South Wales under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (Act). Categories of Offences There are…
Quirks in modern awards No’s 5 to 8
As part of our occasional series on odd and unusual terms in modern awards, we highlight a further four more quirky clauses in modern awards that employers sometimes miss. Quirks in moderns awards No. 5: Requirement to pay overtime rates where employees are kept waiting for their wages in the Building and…
Equity Crowd Source Funding Part 2: Regulatory Update
Australia’s equity crowd source funding régime (CSF Régime) came into effect in Australia on 29 September 2017. The relevant provisions now sit within Part 6D.3A of the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act) and of the Corporations Regulations (2001) (the Regulations). The CSF Régime offers an opportunity for start-ups and small…
What’s in a Name? Job Titles and Modern Award Coverage
The Name Game Amusing articles appear on a regular basis about the renaming of particular occupations in an effort to make them seem more grand or important than they have been traditionally regarded. Some examples that have been cited include renaming “Bar Attendant” to “Beverage Dissemination Officer”, “Labourer” to “Mortar Logistics Engineer”, “Garbage…
Car allowance decision drives unfair dismissal access
In the recent decision of Sam Technology Engineers Pty Ltd v Mr Andrew Bernadou [2018] FWCFB 1767 the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) considered (as part of an appeal) the issue of how to treat car allowances for the purpose of determining the annual rate of earnings for…
The top five mistakes employers make when terminating employment: No.5 Alternatives to Dismissal
So you’ve got a valid reason to dismiss an employee, right? (Established misconduct, poor performance, etc). And you’ve made sure you’ve afforded the employee procedural fairness? (You’ve held a disciplinary meeting where the employee has had a chance to address the allegations against then accompanied by a support person). You’ve been careful to make it clear…
The top five mistakes employers make when terminating employment: No. 4 Unfair dismissal
A frequent mistake employers make when dealing with dismissal, is failing to afford employees “procedural fairness”. The unfair dismissal provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 operate so that as well as an employer having to have a valid reason to terminate employment (misconduct, poor performance, etc), they must also (generally)…