Articles
General Protections Complaint – Huge future economic loss $Pay-out due to COVID-19
$664,601.38 payout! A staggering amount was awarded to an employee for breach of the General Protections – a substantial portion of this was assigned to the difficulty the applicant would have in obtaining employment in the current COVID-19, pandemic effected environment. TheFederal Circuit Court (FCC) has recently awarded an employee compensation to the tune of…
Read MoreChallenging suspected falsified medical certificates
In Australia ‘sickies’ have become part of our identifiable culture. They are joked about with work mates and celebrated within social circles, but for businesses they are a serious problem, impacting both the productivity and profitability of an organisation. With a growing number of questionable medical certificates being used to access sick leave, many employers…
Read MorePowers of Appointors of Discretionary Trusts
Trusts can be beneficial mechanisms for asset protection and tax purposes. There are various types of trusts each with its advantages and disadvantages depending on the desired purpose. Discretionary trusts, sometimes referred to as family trusts, are particularly beneficial for small businesses and estate planning. There are four main roles in a discretionary trust, as…
Read MoreThe High Income Threshold And Salary Reductions Resulting From COVID-19 – Does reducing salary avoid unfair dismissal applications?
In Unfair Dismissal Applications – an employee must demonstrate their annual rate of earnings at the time of dismissal were below the high income threshold prescribed by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)[1] in order to be protected from unfair dismissal. The current high income threshold (applicable to all dismissals taking effect after 1 July…
Read MoreHow we can help? Ensuring Redundancies are ‘Genuine Redundancies’
Unfair Dismissal Applications – When an employee alleges their termination of employment was harsh, unjust or unreasonable, the Fair Work Commission (the FWC) is required to consider a number of preliminary matters[1] including whether the employee was a person protected from unfair dismissal. One of these matters is whether the employee’s dismissal was a case…
Read More3 Practical Legal Tips for HR Practitioners in Manufacturing to overcome legal obstacles
COVID-19, the pandemic has caused massive disruption to industry. Manufacturing has been no exception and although there have been a number of companies who have benefited from clients “going local” and others who have pivoted into other areas – hand sanitizers been an obvious one. Many HR professionals in Manufacturing companies are coming to grips…
Read MoreProtections for Landlords: Retail Shop Leases and Other Commercial Leases Regulation 2020
The Retail Shop Leases and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Regulation 2020 is one of the latest pieces of legislation enacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This legislation was made under the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020 (Qld) and Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld) with the purpose of mitigating the effect of COVID-19 on small businesses and giving effect to the good faith leasing principles as outlined in the National Cabinet’s Mandatory Code of Conduct.
Read MoreWhat can Business expect from the IR Roundtable? 4 Reforms potentially on the table
In recent times we have had a number of unique and challenging decisions come out of the Fair Work Commission – Skene and Rossato come to mind. We have also had a pandemic which has led to a number of changes to Modern Awards, directions and stand downs. New challenges have been forced on organisations…
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