We consider what the major employment law stories for 2016 were and what their impact might be as we head into the new year. Parental leave Leading up to the election, the Coalition scrapped Tony Abbott’s maternity leave scheme which promised that mothers would be paid their full income for 6 months. The policy at…
Category: News & Commentary
Spreading the Christmas Cheer or the Grinch that Stole Christmas: the Hits and Misses of Workplace Christmases Past
As we come to the end of 2016 and approach Christmas, an exciting time of the working year, as staff are treated to workplace Christmas parties and often time off work over the Christmas and New Year period, some businesses find themselves in tricky situations: everything from misbehaving employees to disputes over annual leave rights…
Three strikes and you’re out – is it possible to ban sports talk in the workplace?
A recent opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald raised the issue of sport conversation in the workplace, emphasising its ability to exclude as sport can be significant within a culture, but not necessarily for all individuals. While this may be true, it is difficult to argue that sport should – and more importantly can…
Another Chapter to the Paid Parental Leave Saga
In another chapter to the saga which is the Coalition’s position on parental leave, yesterday, Social Services Minister Christian Porter announced that he wanted amendments to the Federal Government’s Paid Parental Leave scheme to pass through the Senate and come into effect by 1 January 2017, just ten weeks away. The amendments would see parents…
Hyper-connectivity and the new workplace
The past twenty years have seen more rapid technological change than any other period in human history. This has had a profound effect on social interaction and human psychology. Most notably, increased data speeds, web 2.0, and invention of smart phones, have created a situation where continuous connectivity is the new norm. The answer to…
Workplace Benefits and Perks vs Salary – A Balancing Exercise
We are seeing an increasing number of companies that are offering extensive, lucrative and sometimes unusual workplace benefits to employees in an effort to not only attract, but also retain a talented workforce. The best example of employers turning to (sometimes outrageous) workplace benefits is never more apparent than among the innovative technology giants of…