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 […]
In the era of fake news, modern society has never seen such high levels of political misinformation. Whether it has been the Brexiteers‘ guarantees of improbable prosperity for an independent Britain, or Donald Trump’s recent promises to “make America great again”, lazy and untested rhetorical concepts appear to have high political capital. Anyone seeking to […]
Published 15 April 2019 Chucking a ‘sickie’ is considered by some to be a great Australian past time. However, sickies can be an absolute nightmare for employers, especially small business owners who struggle to replace staff at short notice. There is a well-documented spike in the use of sick leave around public holidays and with […]
Late last month, the Federal Circuit Court handed down significant penalties totaling $329,133 against online fashion start up Her Fashion Box Pty Ltd and its sole director Kathleen Purkis, in Fair Work Ombudsman v Her Fashion Box Pty Ltd & Anor [2019] FCCA 425. Judge Manousaridis found that Her Fashion Box had underpaid three young […]
This week, during a Senate inquiry in Melbourne on the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Request Casual Conversion) Bill, the unions have continued their campaign for small businesses to be forced to convert casual employees into permanent employees after six months. Exactly one year ago, the Australian Council of Trade Unions called for the right […]
Stop bullying orders under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) are intended to have a wide application, extending beyond employees to ‘workers’ including contractors, volunteers and students gaining work experience. Recently, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission in Bibawi v Stepping Stone Clubhouse Inc t/a Stepping Stone [2019] FWCFB 1314 considered whether Bibawi, […]