Latest publications
Remedial Works in strata schemes – were they nearly forgotten?
We are all aware of the push by the NSW Government to ‘restore consumer confidence’ in the NSW Construction Industry and the need to tackle the issue of serious defects being experienced by many unit owners throughout NSW. Whilst the majority of building and design practitioners out there are slowly adapting…
Casual employment: Latest developments and where to from here?
It has been a big year for casual employees, with the law with respect to who a casual employee is, and what their entitlements are, appearing to be (finally) settled. Some key developments in this space from the last week alone are summarised below. Workpac v Rossato On Wednesday, 4 August the High Court handed…
Mandatory Workplace Vaccination: Some Myths
With SPC putting its head above the parapet by mandating COVID-19 vaccination for its workforce, and the National Cabinet Statement on 6 August, the topic of mandatory workplace vaccination has never generated such interest, analysis or debate. In discussion and reporting on the issue there are some regularly recurring myths. It is…
NSW Construction Industry Shut Down – Partial re-opening as of 31 July 2021
On Wednesday 28 July 2021, the NSW Premier took steps to re-open certain construction sites in parts of Greater Sydney following the earlier construction industry shut down orders which came into effect on 17 July 2021. Amendments have been made by the Public Health (COVID-19 Temporary Movement and Gathering Restrictions) Amendment…
Qualifications a floor, but not a ceiling, for award coverage: FCAFC
In a decision that has affirmed what those working in the industrial relations space already knew – that fitting an employee’s role into an award classification is hard – a full court of the Federal Court in King v Melbourne Vicentre Swimming Club Inc [2021] FCAFC 123 has overturned a decision of Justice Wheelahan that…
Dealing with the NSW Construction Industry shut down — managing existing works
On 17 July 2021, the NSW Government amended the Public Health (Covid-19 Temporary Movement and Gathering Restrictions) Order 2021 (the Orders) to deal with the ongoing outbreak of the Covid-19 Delta variant in the Greater Sydney area. The net impact of the insertion of clauses 22(4A) and 24AB is that the…
Update on Statutory Demands – changes to minimum threshold and (for some) time to comply
On 1 July 2021, Schedule 1 to the Corporations Amendment (Statutory Minimum) Regulations 2021 (Cth) (Regulations) came into force, increasing the minimum amount which a debtor company must owe a creditor before that creditor can issue a statutory demand to the debtor (Statutory Minimum) and changing, for some debtors, the period in which debtors can…
Mandatory Workplace Vaccination: Reflections on Recent Developments
With the current troubling Covid-19 cluster in NSW, and a deep concern about the relatively low rates of vaccination of staff in some industries which deal with the sick and the vulnerable, most notably aged care, the issue of mandatory workplace vaccination has gone from being an interesting theoretical consideration to…
The implications of implying a term of reasonable notice
In a decision that demonstrates the need for employment contracts to clearly specify a term for notice of termination, Judge Obradovic in the Federal Circuit Court case, McAlister v Yara Australia Pty Ltd [2021] FCCA 1409, has implied a term of 9 months’ notice into an employee’s employment contract. Background The applicant had worked for her employer…
Government Introduces Bill in Response to Landmark AHRC Respect@Work Report
The Federal Government has introduced the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Bill 2021 (the Bill) in response to the Respect@Work Report (the Report) presented to the Government by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, in March last year. As part of its ‘Roadmap for Respect’ initiative…