Update on Australia’s modern slavery reporting requirements
We recently published an update advising on Australia’s move to establishing comprehensive modern slavery legislation. The legislation proposed by the Federal government sought to establish a modern slavery reporting requirement, with its primary objective being to have businesses take proactive and effective actions to address modern slavery and to mitigate the risk of modern slavery […]
ReadmoreNew NES entitlement: Unpaid Domestic and Family Violence Leave
In its final flurry of legislative activity for 2018, the Federal parliament has today passed an amendment to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) that will enshrine the right for employees to take up to five days unpaid leave to deal with family and domestic violence. This amendment follows a decision in March this year […]
ReadmoreThe Fair Work Commission Tackles “Flexism”
In recent years, there has been a push to ensure employees are not subject to sexism, ageism and racism in the workforce. The new term ‘flexism’[1], has now taken the spotlight. The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has recently handed down a decision considering ‘family friendly work arrangements’ as a part of […]
ReadmoreEmployment Lifecycle Series | On-boarding and induction essentials
Now that you have bedded down your recruitment processes (with the tips from the first article in our Employment Lifecycle Series – Getting Your Recruitment Processes Right), it might be time to review and consider how best to design and tailor your induction and on-boarding to suit your business’ needs. This article sets out our […]
ReadmoreEmployment Lifecycle Series | Getting your recruitment processes right
Gadens’ Employment Advisory Team is pleased to introduce its new series of alerts covering the employment life cycle: From the Cradle to the Grave… From Recruitment to Termination. In this series we will bring you regular updates with useful tips on issues that our clients have encountered at all stages of the employment lifecycle, including […]
Readmore#MeToo and sexual harassment in Australian workplaces
The #MeToo movement and its focus on exposing the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace continues to resonate loudly in 2018. What started in 2017 with allegations being made against Harvey Weinstein, then set off an avalanche of sexual harassment allegations being made against high profile people both in Australia and overseas. Further momentum […]
ReadmoreModern slavery and what businesses need to know
Australia is slowly moving closer to the establishment of comprehensive modern slavery legislation. At Federal level, the Modern Slavery Bill 2018 (Federal Bill) passed the lower house last month and is now being considered by the Senate, and in the last Federal budget funding was provided to establish an anti-slavery unit in the Department of […]
ReadmoreWhat you need to know about the new portable long service leave for cleaning, security and community services workers in Victoria
On 4 September 2018, the Victorian Government passed the Long Service Benefits Portability Bill 2018. The Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018 (Vic) (LSBP Act) will come into effect on 1 July 2019, unless proclaimed earlier by the Government. Why has the legislation been introduced? The LSBP Act has been introduced to enable Victorian […]
ReadmoreFAQ on new casual conversion clauses operative from today – 1 October 2018
Casual conversion rights and obligations for award-covered employees will be streamlined across all industries from today – 1 October 2018.[1] We have addressed the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ on casual conversion below: What is casual conversion? Casual conversion is the transfer of an employee’s employment status from casual to permanent. What is being inserted into the […]
ReadmoreKeeping it casual? Think again!
You have no doubt heard about the landmark decision in WorkPac Pty Ltd v Skene[1], where the Full Court of the Federal Court (Full Court) found that a casual employee was a permanent employee entitled to annual leave payments. In this article we have summarised the decision and outlined the important practical implications for many […]
ReadmoreImpact of Family and Domestic Violence Leave entitlements on Family Law cases
As part of its four yearly review of modern awards, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has been considering submissions on the potential inclusion of family and domestic leave into those awards (see previous article here). The FWC has now determined that such leave should be provided for in awards and has finalised the model clause […]
ReadmoreWill your Enterprise Agreement pass the BOOT?
The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission in its recent decision Loaded Rates Agreements [2018] FWCFB 3610 (28 June 2018) held that employers must apply the “better off overall test” (BOOT) to every employee covered by an Enterprise Agreement. The decision involved a consideration of five applications for the approval of Enterprise Agreements containing […]
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