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The key compliance date of 27 September 2021 for employers to meet new ‘casual conversion’ requirements is fast approaching. This is the deadline for compliance with the latest changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Fair Work Act), which commenced on 27 March 2021. Under the changes, employers other than ‘small business employers’ are required to consider eligibility criteria for casual employees engaged on or before 27 March 2021 and either: make an offer of casual conversion to each employee who meets certain requirements; or notify the employee that the employer is declining to make an offer of conversion…
Read MoreThe Qantas Group (Qantas) has announced that it will require all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by 31 March 2022. For frontline staff, that date is even sooner, at 15 November 2021. The announcement made Qantas just the third Australian company to publicly declare their intention to make vaccinations mandatory for their workers, and has reignited discussions amongst employers and unions on mandatory workplace vaccinations. Qantas’ decision was made following consultation with its workforce. In a survey of its staff returning 12,000 responses, 60% of employees confirmed that they were already fully vaccinated, 77% had already had at…
Read MoreIn June, the world’s largest meat producer, JBS Foods was targeted by a large scale cyberattack that caused it to suspend its operations across North American and Australia. While there was no official word from the company’s Australian division, the Australasian Meat Industry Employees’ Union (AMIEU) claimed that the producer had stood down approximately 10,000 workers without pay. The situation was eventually resolved when the company agreed to pay a ransom of AU$14.2 million. In statements to the media, the AMIEU noted that JBS had allowed full-time and part-time employees to access their leave entitlements over this period, however that…
Read MoreIn a stark demonstration of the consequences of failing to properly meet work health and safety standards, a company director in Western Australia has become the first person to serve a prison sentence in consequence of a workplace death. Whilst terms of imprisonment are not new to work health and safety laws – being introduced in Western Australia in 2004 – it is still quite quite rare for a person to spend time behind bars for breaching safety laws. With the new offence of industrial manslaughter rising to prominence in some states and territories, the ruling serves as a timely…
Read MoreIn late June, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) determined to vary the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (Retail Award) to, in its words, “resolve uncertainty” in how part-time employment operated under that award. While the FWC’s determination does clarify some points, it proves to be something of a mixed bag when it comes to providing flexibility to employers in rostering part-time employees to best and practical effect. These changes came into effect from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July 2021. The fundamental change – “guaranteed hours” Employers who engage part-time employees under the Retail…
Read MoreParental leave (sometimes referred to as maternity or paternity leave) is an entitlement that will be accessed by a significant number of Australians throughout their working lives. However, it is also one of the more complex parts of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Fair Work Act). There are potentially three components that make up an employee’s entitlement to take parental leave: the Fair Work Act; social security legislation; and any employment contracts or policies and procedures that provide a higher entitlement. In this article, we summarise when and how these entitlements operate, and the rights and responsibilities of employers when…
Read MoreOver the last few years casual employment has received significant attention, first because of two major court cases which challenged the notion of what it means to be a casual, and then because of Parliament’s efforts to mitigate the effect of these court cases on the status quo. These court cases, and indeed the legislation, emphasise that in order to be a casual employee, the employee must not have been promised ongoing work, and the employer is free to offer or not offer work at their discretion according to their need. Conversely, the employee is free to accept or reject…
Read MoreOver the past decade, the ‘gig economy’ has fundamentally reshaped large sections of the economy, from professional services to transport, postal and warehousing. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that as of August 2020, there were approximately 1.02 million independent contractors in Australia. While for many years the construction industry has held by far the largest utilisation of independent contractors, with 30 percent of all independent contractors engaged within the sector, it experienced negative growth between 2019 and 2020. While this was no doubt partly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on that part of the economy,…
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