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Last week many organisations around the country celebrated International Women’s Day, however statistics show that there is still plenty of work to do to achieve true gender parity. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) report that Australia’s current national gender pay gap is 13.3%, meaning on average for every dollar mean earn, women earn 87 cents. Over the course of a year, this results in women earning an average of $13,182 less than men. Over 30 years, that equates to almost $400,000 less in the pockets of women, compared to men. In the retail industry, the national gender pay gap…
Read MoreWestern Australia’s WorkSafe regulator (WorkSafe), the State’s body tasked with enforcing the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) (Act), has laid charges under the Act for the first time against a company for failing to produce documents. The recently amended Act, which came into force in March 2022, provides WorkSafe inspectors broad powers to enter workplaces, to be able to inspect or remove things from a workplace, and to require persons to assist the inspector in exercising their powers. The Act provides an express power for a WorkSafe inspector to be able to require persons to produce documents immediately…
Read MoreThe retail and fast food sectors are some of the largest employers of junior employees in Australia. However, additional obligations are imposed on businesses engaging employees under the age of 18. While the regulations on child employment vary in each State and Territory, the applicable pieces of legislation underpinning the regulations have an overarching objective to protect children not only as vulnerable workers, but to ensure their schooling is not impacted by them entering the workforce. To take the guesswork out of navigating between each State and Territory’s differing rules, we have created a general summary of the key obligations…
Read MoreFollowing the passage of the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2022 (the Act) in November last year, 1 February 2023 marks the day many employees become entitled to ten days of paid leave for occasions where they need time off work to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence (FDV). The new leave entitlement comes after the Federal Government announced it would be legislating a raft of measures to promote gender equality in workplaces across Australia. Paid FDV leave forms an integral part of these measures as family and domestic violence disproportionately affects…
Read MoreWith the passing of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022, a 12-month timer has begun on all ‘zombie’ enterprise agreements. What is a ‘zombie’ agreement? A zombie agreement is a coverall term that refers to agreement-based transitional instruments, such as workplace agreements or workplace determinations made under the Workplace Relations Act 1996. Most commonly, these are enterprise agreements that were made prior to 2009 and have long aged and passed their nominally expiry dates (hence the term ‘zombie’). Given these agreements were made prior to the Fair Work Act 2009, they did not need to…
Read MoreAs of 1 September 2022, the annualised wage arrangement provisions under the Restaurant Award 2020 (Restaurant Award) and the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (Hospitality Award) (collectively, the Awards) have been tightened, imposing greater obligations on employers. The changes come after the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) announced it would focus on wage compliance over the course of 2022-23 in a bid to curb wage theft across several industries. FWO Sandra Parker stated there are “high levels of non-compliance” across the hospitality and restaurant sectors, with vulnerable workers being particularly at risk of exploitation. What is an annualised wage arrangement?…
Read MoreSince our November article here on the Fair Work Commission’s new ‘Stop Sexual Harassment’ jurisdiction, the Federal and some State governments have announced that they will be taking steps to act on the recommendations of the Respect@Work report (the Report). The Federal Attorney General has confirmed that the government will act on the recommendations of the Report including the implementation of a positive duty on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and victimisation as far as practicable. Additionally, a number of state governments are considering introducing a positive duty to prevent sexual harassment…
Read MoreUpon commencement of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act), the Fair Work Commission (Commission) was directed to undertake a 4-yearly review of all modern awards to ensure that they were meeting the objectives of the awards, respectively. In particular, the Fast Food Industry Award 2010 (Fast Food Award) has been under the microscope in recent months, having been reviewed by the Fair Work Commission and rewritten, making it more concise and user-friendly. Prior to finalisation, the Commission invited interested parties to make submissions in respect of the proposed amendments to the Fast Food Award. Having considered feedback from several…
Read MoreIn the recent decision of Fair Work Ombudsman v Delishesco Pty Ltd,[1] the Federal Circuit and Family Court has handed a Brisbane restaurant over $355,000 in penalties for ‘serious contraventions’ of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Fair Work Act). This is among the highest overall amounts of penalties secured by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) under the provisions introduced by the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Act 2017 (Cth) (Vulnerable Workers Act). Background The respondents, Delishesco Pty Ltd and its sole director, operated a sushi restaurant in Brisbane. Despite having been formally cautioned for similar conduct previously, the…
Read MoreWhen disaster strikes and business is suspended or employees can’t get to work, multiple employment entitlements are impacted. In this article, we wrap up some of the most frequently asked questions and examine what, exactly, employees are entitled to in the face of a natural disaster. Can I stand down my employees? One of the most frequently asked questions in the face of a natural disaster is, ‘Can I stand down my employees?’. Under section 524 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Fair Work Act), a stand down is available to employers where an employee cannot be ‘usefully…
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