The line between ‘work’ and ‘home’ has historically been clear for most employees – separated by a distinct office building, worksite, or retail space. Technology has blurred this line in the past few decades and, for some...more
Yet more changes are ahead for employers as key elements of the Federal Labor Government's Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing the Loopholes No 2) Act 2024 (the Act) take effect on 26 August 2024....more
The last two years has seen multiple rounds of changes to employment, industrial and safety laws at federal and state level in Australia....more
Under amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009, employees in Australia are being given a new “right to disconnect” from the workplace outside of normal working hours. Under the new law, employees may refuse contact, including...more
Almost eight years ago, we wrote about some lessons that could be taken from The Simpsons episode ‘King-Size Homer’ (first broadcast in 1995). You will remember that Homer is so lazy that he sets up a “drinking bird” to...more
The Federal Labor Government (Government) has completed its third tranche of workplace relations reform with the recent passage through Federal Parliament of its Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Bill...more
It is worth noting that under the original timetable of the Hon Tony Burke MP for the Closing Loopholes Bill, it would have been passed as law this week....more
The Federal Government recently introduced the latest in a series of workplace reforms into Federal Parliament. The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 (the Bill), proposes further amendments to the...more
Already stretched HR, ER, WHS and Legal teams are about to confront a (seemingly) never-ending stream of law changes that will require cross-team collaboration to operationalise....more
In our recent alert, we set out some of the key upcoming changes in Australian employment law. Since then, there has been further progression as the Labor Government implements its workplace agenda. We have set out a...more
An Australian federal court recently held that employers can no longer arbitrarily schedule employees to work on public holidays without their agreement. Instead, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia ruled on...more
Earlier this week, the Federal Government introduced the Fair Work Legislation (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Bill 2023 (Cth) (Bill) into the Parliament of Australia (Parliament). The reforms proposed by the Bill focus on...more
A lot has happened in Australian employment law over the last few months, and you may be forgiven for having missed some of the changes that were passed just prior to Christmas....more
The Federal Government recently introduced the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill 2022 (Cth) (Bill) into Parliament, which proposes to amend the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) and the operation of the Fair Work Commission (FWC). ...more
On 21 May 2022, the Australian Federal Government changed with the election of the Australian Labour Party. During the election campaign, the new government proposed to conduct a summit to bring together employer, business,...more
Common Law Term of Reasonable Notice Not Displaced by Statutory Minimum Notice Period - Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency - In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit Court held that the common law...more
CASUAL CONVERSION – TIME TO BE READY TO MAKE OFFERS - Earlier this year, the Australian Federal government introduced broad changes to laws relating to casual employment which included a requirement for employers to offer...more
As we reach 1 July 2021, there is a lot happening in the area of employment-related legislation, including award and minimum wage increases, increases to superannuation and the annual change to the high income threshold....more
The Morrison Government's first major workplace reform Bill was introduced into Federal Parliament on 9 December 2020 and has resulted in one significant reform to casual employment laws. The amendments will take effect...more
The original idea A worker stands at the gates of the docks hoping for work. The boss approaches the fence separating dozens of huge containers from those milling outside wanting to unload them. ...more
The Situation: The Federal Government has published its highly anticipated reform package to Australia's industrial relations ("IR") framework. While less ambitious than some had expected, the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting...more
The Situation: The Australian Federal Government has extended the JobKeeper Payment Scheme ("Scheme") with modifications for an additional six months, until 28 March 2021. The fortnightly flat rate subsidy of $1500 per...more
On August 13, 2020, 11 years after the enactment of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the “FW Act”), Australian employers received guidance from the High Court regarding how to count the entitlement to “10 days” of personal leave...more
The Coronavirus Economic Response Package (JobKeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020 was passed by Federal Parliament, which has resulted in further changes to the JobKeeper Payment scheme including changes to the flexibility...more
A 4-1 majority of the High Court of Australia (with Gaegler J dissenting) has overturned the controversial Mondelez decision, confirming what has been the widespread understanding of the operation of personal/carer's leave...more