Employment
Serious misconduct and working when mentally unwell
In a recent decision of Mr Oliver Doherty v Defend Fire Services Pty Ltd T/A Defend Fire – [2024] FWC 1444 | Fair Work Commission the Fair Work Commission considered whether a worker who attended work whilst mentally unfit to do so, was unfairly dismissed.
National Minimum Wage increase
On 3 June 2024, the Fair Work Commission handed down its Annual Wage Review 2023-2024 decision and raised the National Minimum Wage and Award wages by 3.75%. Employers must pay the higher rates of pay from the first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July 2024.
Is a workplace investigation always necessary?
Not necessarily. Whether to conduct a workplace investigation depends on the specific circumstances of the situation and the policies of the organisation. In some cases, issues can be resolved informally without the need for a workplace investigation.
Time for employers to prepare for the right to disconnect
Employers are reminded that the right to disconnect commences in less than three months, with a commencement date of 26 August 2024. Small businesses have an additional six months to prepare.
Can Performance Improvement Plans be bullying?
Employers or any level of management have the authority to take reasonable management action where an employee is not performing to their expected standard of performance. Despite this, the Fair Work Commission has considered whether performance improvement plans (PIPs), or the repeated application of them, could constitute workplace bullying.
Using AI recruitment tools
General protections from unlawful discrimination under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) apply to both employees and prospective employees. It is important to ensure that reliance on tools such as AI in recruitment processes do not infringe on the protections from discrimination that are afforded to prospective employees. The list of attributes that are protected …
Read more
Significant changes around casual employees laws
In other important changes to the Fair Work Act 2001 (Cth), the definition of ‘casual’ and the process of casual conversion have been significantly amended with the changes coming into effect on 26 August 2024.
Fair Work Ombudsman taking action for underpayments and payslip breaches
Employers are reminded that the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) will take action where they believe employees are not receiving their entitlements. The FWO is currently seeking orders against a Melbourne based labour hire company, Oz ESDM Pty Ltd, to rectify an alleged underpayment of wages under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 and failure …
Read more
Fair Work amendments: independent contractor or employee?
In February 2024, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act 2024 (the Act) re-introduced the “multifactorial” test for whether a worker is legally considered to be an independent contractor or an employee. That is, the Act requires an assessment of all of the circumstances of each work arrangement to be made in …
Read more
The Right to Disconnect
In a bid to address the growing concerns of work-life balance and the intrusion of work into personal time, the right to disconnect amendment to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act) was passed by the House of Representatives on 12 February 2024.