Published 26 June 2016 The Industrial Relations Court found Trainee and Apprentice Placement Service Inc had a shared health and safety duty to their employee after placing him with a host employer and was fined $12,000 for failing to uphold this duty. Mr Reynolds had been placed with a host employer, Shear Edge Roofing, by…
Unfair dismissal: Alexis King v D.C Lee & L.J Lyons [2016] FWC 1664
Published 26 June 2016 A woman whose employment as a solicitor was terminated for repeated unexplained absences, which resulted from domestic violence, was awarded $11,064.28 in compensation after the Fair Work Commission found the dismissal was unfair. King was employed by Lee and Lyons, a law firm, on 15 December 2014. On 19 December, King…
What changes are coming on 1 July?
With the new financial year fast approaching, businesses and human resource managers must now turn their minds to workplace planning and employee entitlements, having regard to new changes that will come into effect on 1 July 2016. National minimum wage As is required every year, the Fair Work Commission has reviewed the national minimum wage…
Do you know what is fact and fiction when it comes to casual employees?
Published 9 May 2016 Myth-Busting Claims About Casual Employees Casual employees are a valuable asset for many businesses as they provide the flexibility to cover shifts when other staff are sick or on leave, mean that there is someone to cover otherwise unpopular shifts and allow the business to react to increased customer demand at…
Out of work conduct: when is dismissal justified?
We see it all the time in professional sports: athletes losing their contracts over poor decisions made away from the game. Take for example, Todd Carney who was spectacularly sacked from the Cronulla Sharks, without procedural fairness, following the ‘bubbler’ incident, or Nick D’Arcy who was kicked off the Australian swimming team bound for the…
Balancing your need for information with workplace surveillance legislation
Workplace surveillance can be a tricky slope to manage for employers, with their thirst for knowledge about their employee’s activities sometimes outweighing their requirement to comply with legislative obligations. It is understandable: an employer provides the workplace so therefore, they should be able to monitor that workplace in any way they like, right? Unfortunately that…