The penalty rate argument has been steadily brewing since the Coalition took office 18 months ago, spurred on by the recent decision of Restaurant and Catering Association of Victoria [2014] FWCFB 1996 which I discussed in this post. It’s not surprising that the penalty rates argument would come up over the Easter Weekend where NSW […]
While I understand the iconic popularity of Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, I was genuinely surprised to learn over the weekend that an online petition demanding his reinstatement had passed the 1,000,000 signature mark. This comes after an interesting month, in which Clarkson was suspended from his job with the BBC for a ‘fracas’ with […]
I am completely unsurprised at news over the weekend that Todd Carney has been found to have been wrongly dismissed by Cronulla Sharks. At the time of his dismissal, I couldn’t help but notice the incredibly short time between his ‘bubbler’ incident going viral online, and the announcement of the termination of his contract. Anyone with knowledge […]
Dr Gabrielle McMullin has faced fierce criticism for recent comments that females seeking a careers as surgeons should not speak out against sexual harassment. Her message was that while vicitms of this type of harassment may have a valid legal claim, making a complaint is likely to destroy their careers. Some commentators described her […]
This article late last week, about the ‘work-life’ balance statements of Southern Cross Austereo executive Linda Wayman, was reacted to with immediate controversy. As parental rights at work are currently a hot topic in Industrial Relations and HR circles (our own firm publishing this update just last week), I have to admit being more amused by her comments than […]
When discussing Industrial relations, an issue that has often fallen through the cracks is that of internships. In many sought after and prestigious professions (including law – see my previous post on this here) it has become commonplace to expect prospective employees to give their time to employers without remuneration. Generally, other than in specific […]