Insights

COVID-19 mandatory vaccinations in clinical and healthcare settings

Medical experts consider that the Delta strain is up to 40% more contagious than the previous strain of COVID-19, which significantly elevates the amount of risk to workers in sectors like health...

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Respect@Work: Government introduces Bill to tackle sexual harassment in workplaces

As foreshadowed in our client alert Proposed reforms to tackle sexual harassment, the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Bill 2021 has been introduced into Parliament.

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Proposed reforms to tackle sexual harassment

The Federal Government has announced that it will be introducing legislation to Parliament to bolster the national framework for addressing sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. The proposed...

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Casual Employees - Certainty for Employers

The Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021 (Bill) has now passed Parliament and provides more certainty for employers in relation to casual employees.

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Sexual harassment: now squarely a Work Health and Safety issue

Safe Work Australia has released new national guidance on preventing and responding to workplace sexual harassment (Guide). The release of the Guide is just one of a number of significant...

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Industrial manslaughter in the Queensland coal industry

The industrial manslaughter provisions commenced on 1 July 2020 with amendments made to a number of Mineral and Energy Resources legislative instruments including the Coal Mining Safety & Health...

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Major changes to IR laws – what you need to know

On 9 December 2020, the Attorney General tabled a new bill (the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020) which proposes significant changes to the Fair...

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The Casuals Conundrum Resolved?

Sweeping proposed industrial relations reforms introduced by the Federal Government on 9 December 2020 could change the nature of work for Australia’s estimated 2.6 million casual workers.

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Funders may not have to provide security for costs in employee underpayment class actions

On 10 November 2020, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia overturned orders made by Justice Lee which required the litigation funder to provide security for costs in two class actions...

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Common sense prevails for personal leave: High Court decision in Mondelez

The High Court of Australia handed down its much awaited decision about personal leave entitlements in Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd v AMWU & Ors and Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations v AMWU ...

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Labour hire – contractors or employees?

Following on from the May 2020 Full Federal Court decision in Rossato, in July 2020 the Full Federal Court handed down its judgment in another labour hire case, Construction, Forestry, Maritime...

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Review your workplace COVID Plan

Yesterday’s announcement by the Victorian Premier of the Stage 4 restrictions for workplaces means it is timely for employers to review their COVID Plan.

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New Wage Theft Bill Passed by Victorian Parliament

With much recent debate at the Federal and State level about criminalising employee underpayments, on 16 June 2020, the Victorian Parliament passed the Wage Theft Bill 2020.

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WorkPac Pty Ltd v Rossato

Last week, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia handed down the decision in WorkPac Pty Ltd v Rossato [2020] FCAFC 84 dismissing WorkPac’s application for a declaration that Mr Rossato...

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Returning to work under COVIDSafe workplace plans and other recent trends

Last week the Australian Government announced a three step framework for a COVIDSafe Australia.

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Casual Employment

In 2021, the Federal Government passed legislation which redefined the concept of casual employment and introduced a statutory right for casual workers to be offered conversion to permanent...

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Work health and safety

In Australia, work health and safety (WHS) (otherwise referred to as occupational health and safety) is governed by a national regime. State based legislation reflects the ‘model law’ as developed...

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Wage underpayment

Investigations by the Fair Work Ombudsmen have revealed widespread, systematic underpayment of wages and other entitlements across the Australian employment landscape. In response, a number of...

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Sexual Harassment

In 2020, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins published the Respect@Work Report following the Australian Human Rights Commission inquiry into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces in...

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Australia's Whistleblower laws

In Australia, a whistleblower in the private sector is entitled to make anonymous disclosures and be protected from any detrimental conduct resulting from that disclosure where they divulge...

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Understanding the JobKeeper scheme

This article aims to provide a summary of the rules relating to the JobKeeper scheme.

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JobKeeper Scheme Passes Parliament

As anticipated, on 8 April 2020, the Federal Parliament passed the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Act 2020 and related legislation which establishes the JobKeeper...

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FWC announces intent to temporarily amend Awards to provide new leave benefits

On 1 April 2020, the FWC announced a provisional view that it will amend 103 modern awards to include a new temporary Schedule that will operate until 30 June 2020, subject to review by the...

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JobKeeper Payments – Information for Employers

In its efforts to provide much needed relief to employers and employees from the financial impact of COVID-19, the Australian Government has announced the JobKeeper Payment scheme to support...

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