Message from the CEO: 3 October 2017

Two challenges to the penalty rates ruling brought by worker unions have now been heard in the Federal Court,...

Two challenges to the penalty rates ruling brought by worker unions have now been heard in the Federal Court, with both cases heard together last week, in front of a full bench in Melbourne. After joining other employer and business groups including the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Hotels Association...

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NRA are standing up for retail and fast food in the Penalty Rates Case

By Alex Millman and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal The union challenge to the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty...

By Alex Millman and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal The union challenge to the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates in the retail, fast food and hospitality sectors wrapped up yesterday, with the Federal Court reserving its decision to be handed down at a later date. With five judges, approximately...

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Vulnerable Workers Bill amendments: what you need to know

On Tuesday 5 September 2017, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 was passed with amendments by...

On Tuesday 5 September 2017, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 was passed with amendments by both houses of Parliament. The Bill was given Royal Assent by the Governor-General on 14 September 2017, becoming an Act (the VW Act) which will re-write parts of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW...

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FWC rejects SDA application for blood donor leave

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal In mid-July this year, the Fair Work Commission heard an application by...

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal In mid-July this year, the Fair Work Commission heard an application by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association to include provision for paid blood donor leave in the retail, fast food, and hair and beauty awards. NRA, along with other industry groups,...

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The road to Hell …

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal … is paved with good intentions. An employer who moved forward the date...

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal … is paved with good intentions. An employer who moved forward the date of an employee’s redundancy so that she would be aware of it before she returned from maternity leave has been found to have breached the Fair Work Act (FW Act). Power...

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Requirement to ‘consult’ in the redundancy process

By Alex Millman, Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Restructuring a business often involves making employees redundant. This is...

By Alex Millman, Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Restructuring a business often involves making employees redundant. This is an unfortunate but logical truth. There is a natural tension between the freedom for businesses to be able to structure their operations in the most effective manner possible, and the need...

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United Voice set to merge with NUW

Written by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Employee union, United Voice, is set to merge with the National...

Written by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Employee union, United Voice, is set to merge with the National Union of Workers (‘NUW’) following a signed Memorandum of Understanding by both organisations to explore options for a “new union model”. The unions have revealed plans to meet in November to...

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Employment law legislation update

Written by Alex Millman Members will recall from previous news alerts that there are several pieces of legislation amending the...

Written by Alex Millman Members will recall from previous news alerts that there are several pieces of legislation amending the Fair Work Act currently waiting for the attention of the Senate before they can become law. Foremost among these is the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017, which aims...

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What to expect in the new financial year

By Alex Millman After a somewhat turbulent final month to the financial year, the time has come for all industries...

By Alex Millman After a somewhat turbulent final month to the financial year, the time has come for all industries to take stock of what had been going on and what we can expect to see in industrial relations as we go into the new year. Here are just some of...

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Casual employees to request permanent position after 12 months

The Fair Work Commission has recently handed down a decision with respect to the status of casual employees in the...

The Fair Work Commission has recently handed down a decision with respect to the status of casual employees in the retail, fast food, and hair and beauty industries. Casual employees in these industries approaching 12 months service (with an employer) may request to be converted to a permanent employee, and the employer...

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Lack of written warnings leads to unfair dismissal ruling

by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild Ashley Duddington v Mario and Clara Enterprises Pty Ltd and Morgan Trading Pty Ltd...

by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild Ashley Duddington v Mario and Clara Enterprises Pty Ltd and Morgan Trading Pty Ltd FWC 2958 Small business employers (employing less than 15 employees) are reminded by a recent case before the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to use the Small Business Dismissal Code (the...

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Significant breach of policy used to justify termination

by Sid Sidhu and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Teresa Margaret Murphy v Banana Coast Community Credit Union Ltd T/A BCU...

by Sid Sidhu and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Teresa Margaret Murphy v Banana Coast Community Credit Union Ltd T/A BCU FWC 2688 An employee who worked as a store supervisor for Banana Coast Community Credit Union (BCU) has had her application for relief from unfair dismissal, dismissed by the Fair...

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Award reviews set to be abolished

Today, as the last order of business, Parliament will resume debate of the Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of 4...

Today, as the last order of business, Parliament will resume debate of the Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of 4 Yearly Review and Other Measures) Bill 2017 (Review Bill). With the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 (Vulnerable Workers Bill) attracting a lot of attention, the Review Bill has...

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Message from the CEO: 6 June 2017

The Fair Work Commission has made two important decisions affecting retailers in the last 24 hours, and it’s worth...

The Fair Work Commission has made two important decisions affecting retailers in the last 24 hours, and it’s worth considering how commentators and elected officials respond to each one. The first issue, yesterday, was the Commission’s announcement on the timing of the adjustment of Sunday penalty rates. Your feedback to...

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Employers launch advertising blitz against FWC wage decision

Small business owners will be worse off Retailers demand Parliament override Commission decision Marginal seats campaign to target...

Small business owners will be worse off Retailers demand Parliament override Commission decision Marginal seats campaign to target MPS who accept Commission verdict Not really. In fact, the National Retail Association fully accepts the decision of the Fair Work Commission in relation to today’s 3.3 per cent increase in the...

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Decision on penalty rate transition period handed down

In February the Fair Work Commission announced its decision to reduce Sunday penalty rates in the Hospitality, Fast Food,...

In February the Fair Work Commission announced its decision to reduce Sunday penalty rates in the Hospitality, Fast Food, Retail and Pharmacy awards. At 2pm today the Commission handed down its decision on how these changes will be implemented. Fast Food Industry Award 2010  Only Level 1 employees are affected by the...

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