News
As we’ve entered a new year, we’ve seen the emergence of a new danger, in the form of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The first cases were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province on 31 December 2019 when a number of people were diagnosed with pneumonia like symptoms, and since then has spread throughout the world, including to Australia, with 12 cases confirmed in Australia. With the death toll at 362, and more than 17,300 infections confirmed globally, countries around the world are currently engaging in a range of quarantine measures to try to stem…
Read MoreDoes this wage look right to you? The Legal Beagles, Cal and Al, return for 2020 with a brand new analysis on the wage theft (or non-compliance) scandals that have rocked the headlines. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they made any New Years resolutions to be nicer to each other! Like, comment and subscribe to our National Retail Association YouTube channel to continue supporting Cal and Al! We’ve discussed wage theft, what else would you like to hear about?
Read MoreIt is a common misconception that once an employee is paid a salary, a modern award no longer applies to their employment. Whether a modern award applies to a person mostly depends on the duties they perform, and while their salary can be indicative of their level of responsibility, it is by no means determinative. Some modern awards (for example, the General Retail Industry Award 2010) do not provide any heightened obligations when an employee is paid a salary compared to when they are paid on an hourly basis. Under these awards, the general rule is that an employee being paid…
Read MoreEmployers often spruik their ‘zero tolerance’ drug and alcohol policies when trumpeting their safety and workplace processes and cultures. However, the Fair Work Commission has also been promoting a ‘zero tolerance’ approach of its own towards unfair dismissals. In a recent decision by Deputy President Sams, a former employee of Sydney Trains has been reinstated after being dismissed for breaching one of these ‘zero tolerance’ policies. This case demonstrates that while employers may have a ‘zero tolerance’ policy, this does not mean that any ‘harsh, unjust or unreasonable’ element in a decision to dismiss an employee is automatically forgiven. Mr…
Read More2019 is drawing to a close, so the Legal Beagles decided to go over their favourite (and most infamous) dismissal decisions of the year. From family squabbles to extremely bad behaviour, it’s a wild ride from start to finish. Like, comment and subscribe to our National Retail Association YouTube channel to continue supporting Cal and Al!
Read MoreWith the year almost over, it’s time to reflect on the lessons learned in 2019, and prepare for the start of a new decade. In January, we predicted that compliance would continue to be a major factor affecting retail businesses, however for reasons that require no explanation, this was somewhat of an underestimation. In a surprise result, the Coalition held onto Government in the 2019 Federal Election, and the broad sweeping changes to the industrial relations landscape promised by Labor were not realised. However notwithstanding this, there has been no shortage of challenges to the status quo: personal/carer’s leave has been thrown into a tail…
Read MoreSince before the introduction of the Fair Work Act it has taken more than just a valid reason to dismiss an employee. From providing an opportunity to respond, to not refusing a request for a support person – these additional ‘procedural fairness’ steps are viewed by many as merely stages on the conveyor belt to dismissal. It is easy, then for even the most experienced HR professional to forget that these rules were not developed in isolation, and that asking the right questions can sometimes avoid an embarrassing foray in the Fair Work Commission. The recent decision of Susan Edwards…
Read MoreDespite strong objection from industry, the Queensland’s Parliament today passed a Bill to make Christmas Eve a part-day public holiday – all work in Queensland after 6:00pm on 24th December will now be treated as a public holiday. For employers who had planned on trading on Christmas Eve past 6:00pm, your full-time and part-time employees are now entitled to be absent from work if they were going to be rostered past this time. Managing absences You must request that your employees work past this time, and your employees may refuse your request if it is unreasonable, or for reasonable grounds.…
Read MoreWith “wage theft” being a hot topic politically, Parliaments around Australia have undertaken inquiries into the matter at a State level since 2018. Following inquiries into “wage theft” in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, the Federal Opposition has established a similar inquiry to be conducted by the Senate Economics References Committee. Although the State-based inquiries have made many recommendations without the constitutional power to put them into effect, this will be the first inquiry of this kind at a level of government which is able to contemplate legislative change to put the recommendations of the inquiry into practice. …
Read More