GREEN RETROFITS – New environmental upgrade agreements
Market barriers that have previously prevented owners from improving their buildings' green credentials have been removed with new laws allowing for environmental upgrade agreements. If you are a building owner, the opportunity may be there for you to improve the energy efficiency of your building through the newly introduced environmental upgrade agreements (EUAs). The agreements […]
Sham Contracting – Two parts to employee test involves intuition
Whether someone providing services to a business is classed as an employee or independent contractor can be difficult to assess, but the distinction is important, and failing to establish it correctly can prove costly. In a recent case, an interpreting and translating business which classified its interpreters as independent contractors found itself facing penalties. The […]
FACEBOOK- Liability for publication
Businesses using social media need to closely monitor what goes up on such sites, particularly when they have the ability to delete content posted by customers. A business has recently been held liable for misleading testimonials posted by customers on its Facebook fan page. The court found it was not necessary for there to be […]
SOCIAL NETWORKING – Can you control it?
Social media is a double edged sword. Businesses are increasingly starting to use it for marketing purposes but also face the risks of their employees abusing it, either at work or through comments they or their friends post online. Facebook has more than 500 million active users; 200 million of whom access it via their […]
CLOUD COMPUTING – Legal issues for service contracts
Before you decide to sign up for cloud computing, there are issues relating to location of data, security and reliability, and data exit that you should be aware of. 'The cloud' relates to providing computing services such as computer power, data storage and applications over the internet. Businesses can usually buy these services from companies […]
NEIGHBOURS – Building good fences may take negotiation
There is no requirement to have a fence if you and your neighbour don’t want one. But if you want a fence and your neighbour doesn’t, you should get a quote for one to be built and discuss it with the neighbour. If you don’t reach agreement, you can give the neighbour a written notice […]
Casuals, Awards and All-in Payments
If you are making "all in" or gross payments, whether it be casual or permanent, you need to specify the award, the classification and the base rate of pay for that classification, so that you can show that overtime, allowances and loadings are included in the gross hourly or annual rate. If you do not, […]
Director Penalty Notices
There are a number of ways a company director can become personally liable for the debts of his or her company. The most common way is when a director gives a personal guarantee to a creditor. When a company is placed into liquidation, a director can become liable to the liquidator for debts incurred whilst […]
Employment Restraints – Court supports employer relying on fixed term contract and liquidated damages clause
A series of cases in the NSW Supreme Court has cast more light on the willingness of courts to enforce restraints in employment contracts. In the Tulletts case, a senior executive on a fixed term 2 year contract resigned to work for a competitor. His employer asked the Supreme Court for an injunction stopping him from […]
Hybrid Dispute Resolution – Getting the best of both worlds
Courts are streamlining their processes around the world. 'Just, cheap and quick' is the objective. One option being entertained is the use of a hybrid process in appropriate cases. The practice of combining mediation and arbitration with the same person has been traced back to ancient Greece and Egypt. 'Med-arb' as it is known, ensures […]