After a season of devasting bushfires, Australia has now been hit by a tropical cyclone and severe storms causing serious material damages, road closures and flash flooding. These extreme weather events cause devastation and losses affecting individuals and businesses. Many employers are confronted with the impact these natural disasters may have on their workplace and…
Category: General Employment
Work Christmas Parties – Employees May Risk More Than Their Dignity
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…
Navigating the New Whistleblower Laws – Part 2
Published 22 November 2019 In our recent newsletter, we examined some of the key changes of the expanded corporate whistleblowing scheme that has been in force since 1 July 2019. This week, in part 2 of our newsletter, we will take a look at who is required to have a whistleblower policy under the expanded…
Navigating the New Whistleblower Laws – Part 1
Published 15 November 2019 In February 2019, the Australian Parliament passed new laws creating an expanded corporate whistleblowing scheme which applies to the majority of companies in Australia. These new whistleblower laws took effect on 1 July 2019, with public companies and large proprietary companies then having until 1 January 2020 to implement a compliant…
5 Tips for Drafting Position Descriptions
Published 13 September 2019 The day to day priorities of management and HR professionals can sometimes leave position descriptions as an afterthought. However, when drafted properly, position descriptions can be an invaluable tool for both employers and employees. Why have position descriptions? A position description is a useful, concise tool that outlines the duties, functions…
An Employer’s Guide To Australian Employment Law
An essential feature of Australia’s commercial and cultural identity has been the regulation of employment. This has created significant hurdles for employers, as well as giving rise to a rich and sometimes complex area of legal practice. While it is tempting for practitioners to indulge themselves and each other in the vagaries and complexities of…