Bad Advice and Willful Blindness – Personal Liability for Third Party Advisors
Accountants, payroll providers and HR consultants liable for Client’s Wages Underpayment. We found out last year that a HR manager was personally liable for unlawful employee salary deductions made by the company: see the link to the OzStaff case below. This year, an accountant was found personally liable for its client’s underpayment of its employees. […]
High Income Threshold and Compensation Cap for Unfair Dismissal Applications – 1 July 2017
Employers should be alert to changes to worker entitlements effective 1 July 2017: Unfair Dismissal High Income Threshold Compensation Cap for Unfair Dismissal Redundancy Tax Free Amount Employment Termination Payments (ETP) Lower Tax Rate Cap Superannuation Maximum Contribution Base Increases in Civil Penalties for Breaches of the Fair Work Act Unfair Dismissal High Income Threshold […]
10 Times the Fines, 10 Times the Hassle: The Fair Work Amendment Bill 2017
Franchisors and Parent Companies Feeling Vulnerable to Super Fines The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017, is designed to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation by employers. The Bill is expected to pass through the Senate without much trouble. It is the Coalition’s response to the systematic underpayment of workers by franchisees in the […]
Comply or Face the Consequences: Not-for-Profit on Notice
Religious organisations and not-for-profits are on notice following a recent Fair Work Case. You must get it right with all your workers and check whether they are covered by a modern Award. A man on a religious worker visa worked in a Hindu Temple in Melbourne for 18 months. He complained about being underpaid for […]
Can I share a lawyer’s trade secret? How NOT to enforce post-employment restraints!
Even when employers have introduced restraints that prevent employees from working in competition, those restraints may not stand up. In this NSW case, the court said that the non-compete restraint only stopped the employee from working for a competitor in the part of the business in which they had worked. Keep reading to find out […]
Workplace Watchdog Rips Down the Corporate Veil
Personal liability for those involved in breaches of the Fair Work Act. The Fair Work Ombudsman warns directors and others (known as “accessories”) involved in underpaying workers that they can no longer hide behind the corporate veil. In the last financial year, the Ombudsman sought personal orders against “accessories” in 92% of filed cases. If […]
New Penalty Rates – When do they apply?
On 23 February 2017, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down its decision on penalty rates in the hospitality and retail industries. These changes apply: Public Holiday – Hospitality + Retail – from 1 July 2017. Sunday Penalty – TBA – following a May hearing FWC has invited interested parties to file submissions by 4.00 […]
Fair Work Ombudsman is the New MythBuster
The Fair Work Ombudsman has issued a media release busting the ten myths that leave young employees underpaid. Employers watch out! This year the Ombudsman will be out looking for underpaid young workers. If you are an employer, then you should make sure that you don’t fall for any of the 10 myths or you […]
“We all support ISIS” Facebook sarcasm gets baggage handler sacked and 8 weeks pay for unfair dismissal
A few phrases you won’t hear at an airport are ‘bomb’ and ‘terrorist.’ When a Perth baggage handler posted ‘We all support ISIS’ to Facebook, he got the boot and $4,800 compensation for unfair dismissal. What happened? Aerocare Flight Support terminated Singh’s employment, after he made 5 posts on Facebook under the name ‘Sherry Solus […]
Swearing in the Workplace: the F-Word is ‘Fired’
As employers continue to favour an increasingly relaxed workplace culture, the lines between life and work can become blurred. So is swearing in the workplace acceptable? Could an employee get sacked for dropping the ‘f-bomb’ on a tough day at the office? Recent case law shows that where expletives are concerned, context is everything. Employers […]