Articles
Following a spate of recent announcements by the Fair Work Ombudsman, it seems the employment status of workers in the gig economy will continue to avoid the judicial scrutiny that many had sought. On Friday 7 June 2019, the Fair Work Ombudsman announced the completion of its investigation into Uber Australia Pty Ltd, and its engagement of drivers. Sandra Parker, the Ombudsman, said “The weight of evidence from our investigation establishes that the relationship between Uber Australia and the drivers is not an employment relationship.” In a further development, the Ombudsman has since announced on 21 June 2019 the discontinuation…
Read MoreIn what may be indicative of a growing trend in the trade union movement, Australia’s largest blue-collar unions outside the CFMMEU – United Voice and the National Union of Workers – are progressing their plans to amalgamate and form the fourth-largest union in the country. Between 24 July and 28 August 2019, members of United Voice (UV) and the National Union of Workers (NUW) will vote to decide whether or not to amalgamate to become the United Workers’ Union (UWU). This comes at a time when each union is fresh off a disappointing result in the federal election for the…
Read MoreAfter part-time employment, reasonable additional hours is one the most commonly misunderstood concepts for employers in the retail and quick service industries. In fact, even the question “how many additional hours would be considered reasonable?” betrays a misapprehension of the topic, as the answer is particular to your business and often different for each individual employee. In this article, we break down the top 3 most common myths about “reasonable additional hours”, and what it means for your business. (X) number of hours are “reasonable” for an employee to work The Fair Work Act 2009 (Fair Work Act) expressly provides that an…
Read MoreWhat category you choose to employ someone under (full-time, part-time or casual) has more implications than simply a cost analysis of annual/sick leave or casual loading. There’s more to think about than whether to trade job security for the ability to readily downsize your workforce, or the ability to set an annualised salary. While the intricacies between permanent and casual employees have been well documented, less has been said about part-time and full-time employees. In fact, under the General Retail Industry Award 2010 (Retail Award) and Fast Food Industry Award 2010 (Fast Food Award), apart from rates of pay, full-time and…
Read MoreThe Fair Work Commission (per Deputy President Anderson) stated recently that a workplace investigation “is not a court of law or a quasi-judicial proceeding. It is an internal disciplinary process guided by the principle of fairness.”[1] There are of course a number of rules posited by industrial relations scholars about what is required by procedural fairness (or ‘natural justice’ as it’s often referred to) when conducting workplace investigations. The fundamental characteristic of all these rules relate to a simple question: was the person given an opportunity to explain their position and affect the outcome of the investigation?[2] From this question…
Read MoreWith the Corporations Amendment (Strengthening Protections for Employee Entitlements) Act 2018 (Cth) (the Amendment Act) taking effect last month, now is an apt time to reflect on how officers of a company are subject to hefty penalties for failing to pay employee entitlements adequately when they fall due. The Amendment Act demonstrates stronger policy objectives behind the legislation, pushing for courts to penalise individuals failing to pay employee entitlements, and targeting illegal phoenixing and asset shifting activities of companies. If you aren’t sure who in your business would be considered an “Officer” under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), it is necessary for you to…
Read MoreLate last year, the media introduced us to Angela Williamson, an employee of Cricket Australia allegedly sacked after she posted on Twitter criticising the Tasmanian Government’s policy on abortion laws. Ms Williamson subsequently filed an application with the Fair Work Commission, arguing that CA had breached the general protections provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Fair Work Act). The matter was settled outside of court in September. In more recent memory, Michelle Guthrie’s departure from the ABC and subsequent general protections application was almost universally referred to as an “unfair dismissal.” Despite the apparent similarities between unfair dismissal and general…
Read MoreThe nature of retail means that public holiday requirements can be quite complex. This year, a late Easter means up to five public holidays will fall in the space of a week, raising questions as to employee entitlements, attendance, and trading hours during this time. When can we open? Trading hour regulations vary state-by-state, and may change depending on the size or nature of your business. Any restrictions applicable to your business must be complied with. It is important to note that on days where no restrictions apply, for example, Easter Saturday in Tasmania, businesses are not obliged to…
Read MoreWith the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FW Act) nearing its tenth anniversary in April, now is an apt time to reflect on how the landscape of industrial law has changed both because of the Act, and because of changes to it over time. We have previously discussed how the FW Act, in this age of rapid technological change, has led to the rise of the non-lawyer industrial advocate (see related article here). In more recent years, however, we have seen the rise of another form of industrial advocate which has generated much anguish amongst registered unions and caused any number of…
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