The silly season is fast approaching and the annual work Christmas parties will be starting to happen. The combination of end-of-year cheer and alcohol can create some less than ideal situations for employers. Most employers will start the new year with a ‘forgive and forget’ attitude to the embarrassing dancing or terrible karaoke singing. It…
Author: Staff Writer
How long is a day?
The law is an occupation that deals primarily with language. Words have both an ordinary meaning, and a legal meaning. Lawyers and parties to litigation will often ask the courts to define the legal meaning of words, when the ordinary meaning is plainly obvious. While this may seem a waste of the court’s time and…
The Misuse and Abuse of the FWC’s Stop Bullying Order Applications
In a decision by the Fair Work Commission (the Commission), Deputy President Sams warned against Applicants’ improper use of stop bullying applications “as a deflection, or diversion, or even to overturn a justified disciplinary action”. The detrimental effects of workplace bullying on employees are well known and include decreased productivity, reduced well being, and increased…
Enterprise Agreements – Better Off Overall Test
There are two steps to obtaining approval for a new enterprise agreement. The first step is for employees to vote on whether they approve of the proposed enterprise agreement. If the majority of employees vote in favour of the new enterprise agreement the agreement progresses to the second step. The second step in approving a…
Do I really have to go?
Everyone has those appointments, tasks or events that they just don’t want to show up for. However, there are some things you must bite the bullet and attend. It should go without saying that one of those times is when your attendance is required by a court. It appears this common sense has not transferred…
Penalty Rates and the Independence of the Fair Work Commission
With the 2019 Federal Election looming and the timely Easter public holidays break now passed, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has reiterated his pledge to overrule the independent Fair Work Commission’s by reversing its penalty rates decision. This decision came into effect in 2018 and the current ALP policy proposes to interfere with the decision of…