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
As we find ourselves in the new financial year, a number of the key financial thresholds relating to employees have increased. From 1 July 2024, the national minimum wage has increased by 3.75% to AU$24.10 per hour....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
As we approach 1 July 2023, a number of the key financial thresholds relating to employees will increase. We have prepared a handy key thresholds table for the 2023/2024 financial year for employers. Click here to view the...more
On 4 November 2022 we published a summary of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill 2022 (Cth) (Bill) as it was introduced into Parliament. You are able to access that summary here. In passing the Bill, Parliament made a...more
As we approach 1 July 2022, a number of the key financial thresholds relating to employees will increase. We have prepared a handy key thresholds table for the 2022/2023 financial year for employers. From 1 July 2022, the...more
On 1 March 2020, almost every business in Australia woke up and realised that the deadline for the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) new annualised wage provisions had passed, and many were convinced that they need to change the...more
A lot has happened since the Fair Work Commission (FWC) commenced its review of modern awards in 2014. Now, 6 years later, the FWC is close to completing the mammoth task of reviewing the operation of each modern award and...more
From October 30, 2019, heavy penalties will apply to labor hire providers who operate without a license and to businesses that use unlicensed labor hire providers in Victoria. Similar schemes apply in Queensland (since 2018)...more
Prior to the federal election campaign officially commencing, we held a briefing for clients during which we discussed the main issues which we considered would impact employers in the event that there was a change of...more
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR - In this edition of the Update, we first report on new legislation passed in respect of modern slavery, review of Modern Awards and report on the introduction of domestic violence leave into the...more
From 1 December 2018, all modern awards will include a model term for requests for flexible working arrangements. The decision - On 20 November 2018 a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission published a decision finalising a...more
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR - In this edition of the Update, we report on the exposure draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Taxation and Superannuation Guarantee Integrity Measures) Bill 2018. We then consider a decision of...more
On 21 December 2017, Deputy President Val Gostencnik of the Fair Work Commission issued a decision in the matter of Michail Kaseris v Rasier Pacific V.O.F., an unfair dismissal application in which the jurisdiction of the...more
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR - In this edition of the Update, we report on Woolworths' commitment to identify and address human rights risks in its Australian supply chains. We then discuss a class action expected to be lodged...more
The Australia Fair Work Commission’s minimum wage panel decision issued on June 6, 2017, has increased modern award minimum wages by 3.3%. The decision also lifts the Australian federal weekly full-time minimum wage from...more
What does an employer do when it decides that it cannot afford to continue to employ an employee at his or her current remuneration? A recent case of the Fair Work Commission has determined that these circumstances do not...more
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR - In this edition of the Update, we discuss two significant developments that are likely to have far-reaching impacts for employers and employees across Australia. First, we discuss the proposed...more
Annual leave for many employees is not annual – they bank it, they don't have a rest from work and the leave liability of the employer grows. Other employees can't get enough and want to cut into future entitlements....more
In 1993, the Keating government passed laws to move Australia towards a “system based primarily on bargaining at the workplace, with much less reliance on arbitration at the apex” (Laurie Brereton MP, Minister for Industrial...more
Employers who lose contracts to a competitor or outsource work can lessen the impact of redundancies if they plan ahead and engage with incoming contractors....more
Australia’s Fair Work Commission (“FWC”), the country's industrial relations tribunal responsible for, among other things, setting and maintaining a safety net of minimum wages and other employment conditions under the Fair...more
Australia’s national minimum wage and modern award pay rates are set to increase by 2.5% starting July 1, 2015. On June 2, 2015, the Minimum Wage Panel (the Panel) of the Fair Work Commission announced an increase to the...more