COVID Controversy: Obtaining pandemic-relevant information from employees

By Andrew Piper and Alex Millman, NRA Legal As businesses navigate the challenges of ensuring the health and safety of...

By Andrew Piper and Alex Millman, NRA Legal As businesses navigate the challenges of ensuring the health and safety of their customers and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, they must be careful to avoid infringing upon the privacy of their employees. A recent decision in the Fair Work Commission is useful...

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Presumptuous payroll rules end in heavy penalties for employer

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal In a stern warning for employers who “automate” certain parts of their...

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal In a stern warning for employers who “automate” certain parts of their payroll processes, the South Australian Employment Tribunal (the Tribunal) has slammed an employer with significant penalties for automatically deducting unpaid meal breaks from an employee’s day. The Tribunal also imposed penalties...

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Parliament passes JobKeeper 2.0

This afternoon, Parliament passed the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Jobkeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020 which gives effect to the...

This afternoon, Parliament passed the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Jobkeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020 which gives effect to the previously announced extension of the JobKeeper Payment Scheme until 28 March 2021. To continue participating in the scheme after 27 September 2020, employers will need to meet revised eligibility requirements, and reassess...

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“Hopelessly cavalier”: Fair Work Commission cracks down on discriminatory redundancies

By Calum Woods and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The Fair Work Commission has taken aim at a family-owned retail business...

By Calum Woods and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The Fair Work Commission has taken aim at a family-owned retail business and a financial services firm, both of whom restructured their operations after they were notified that two respective employees had fallen pregnant. In a rare consent arbitration, Compuworld was found to...

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NRA launches retail-first guide this Wear It Purple Day

The National Retail Association (NRA) has called for greater awareness and action to support transgender people in the retail...

The National Retail Association (NRA) has called for greater awareness and action to support transgender people in the retail industry, as it marks ‘Wear it Purple’ Day by launching a new publication for employers, the ‘Guide to Creating Trans Inclusive Workplaces’. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb highlighted, “As the largest employer...

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The definitive guide to employee classification levels

By Calum Woods and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal One of the most common questions we are asked on the NRA’s...

By Calum Woods and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal One of the most common questions we are asked on the NRA’s workplace relations hotline is how to correctly classify employees. In most cases, this is a fairly straight forward exercise, and it’s an important skill for business owners to develop. However, like...

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Transgender inclusion in the workplace

By Thomas Parer and Alex Millman, NRA Legal Seven years ago, on 1 August 2013, it became unlawful across all...

By Thomas Parer and Alex Millman, NRA Legal Seven years ago, on 1 August 2013, it became unlawful across all of Australia to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984. This change was the result of decades of work...

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High Court confirms status quo on personal leave

By Thomas Parer and Alex Millman, NRA Legal On 13 August 2020, the High Court of Australia delivered its eagerly-awaited...

By Thomas Parer and Alex Millman, NRA Legal On 13 August 2020, the High Court of Australia delivered its eagerly-awaited judgment in the case Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd v Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union HCA 29 (Mondelez v AMWU). The matter dealt with the interpretation...

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Night on the town sinks compensation claim

by Andrew Piper and Alex Millman, NRA Legal Many employers offer their employees the opportunity to travel during their employment...

by Andrew Piper and Alex Millman, NRA Legal Many employers offer their employees the opportunity to travel during their employment – whether to meet clients or customers, or to attend training, seminars, or conferences, and this is often considered a “perk” of the job. Often these journeys come with a reasonable...

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Important ‘stand down’ information for Victorian employers

From midnight on Wednesday, 5 August 2020, Victoria will enter Stage 4 restrictions and all non-essential retailers located in...

From midnight on Wednesday, 5 August 2020, Victoria will enter Stage 4 restrictions and all non-essential retailers located in the Melbourne metropolitan area will be restricted to contactless ‘click and collect’ and delivery services. The restrictions will last for at least the next 6 weeks, and as such it...

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Inquiry by a prospective employee not “protected” under Fair Work Act

By Andrew Piper and Alex Millman In a fascinating case before the Federal Court of Australia, Justice Steward considered whether...

By Andrew Piper and Alex Millman In a fascinating case before the Federal Court of Australia, Justice Steward considered whether a prospective employee has a workplace right to make inquiries about their prospective employment. Such a question obviously has significant ramifications for how an employer conducts itself when negotiating contract terms...

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JobKeeper extended to March 2021, but important changes are on the way

By Alex Millman, NRA Legal Today, the Prime Minister announced that the JobKeeper package would be extended from 27 September...

By Alex Millman, NRA Legal Today, the Prime Minister announced that the JobKeeper package would be extended from 27 September 2020 until 28 March 2021. This news comes as welcome relief as businesses still struggle with uncertainty, particularly with the situation in Victoria demonstrating how quickly circumstances can change. There will, however,...

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Franchisor avoids penalties for failure to comply with invalid Notice to Produce

When the Fair Work Act 2009 was amended in 2017 to allow franchisors to be penalised for the non-compliance...

When the Fair Work Act 2009 was amended in 2017 to allow franchisors to be penalised for the non-compliance of their franchisees if they failed to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent contraventions from occurring, the Fair Work Ombudsman quickly placed the franchising model into its spotlight. This increased focus has...

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FWC finds the limits to JobKeeper stand downs

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The Fair Work Commission has, for the first time in the short...

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The Fair Work Commission has, for the first time in the short life of the JobKeeper jurisdiction, tested exactly how far a JobKeeper stand down direction can go in reducing an employee’s hours. In a decision handed down earlier this week, Deputy President...

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Domestic violence results in workers compensation payment

By Thomas Parer and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The need for employers to consider the impact of domestic and...

By Thomas Parer and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The need for employers to consider the impact of domestic and family violence on their workforce has been highlighted by the outbreak of COVID-19, with many domestic and family violence support services reporting a spike in cases as a result of...

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2020 Retail Award Wage Summary now available

The Fair Work Commission released its minimum wage decision on 19 June 2020. Unlike previous years, the Fair Work Commission...

The Fair Work Commission released its minimum wage decision on 19 June 2020. Unlike previous years, the Fair Work Commission has determined to delay the increase to minimum wages for most awards applying to our members until 1 February 2021. Notwithstanding this decision, the final reduction to Sunday penalty rates from...

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