You’ve just been advised that an ex-employee has lodged an Unfair Dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission. You’ve received a copy of their F2 Unfair Dismissal Application and an F3 Employers Response Form to complete. What should you do? Keep Calm You may be feeling anything from outrage through to complete astonishment right now,…
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From 1 November 2021, employers will need to check whether employees have a ‘stapled’ fund before making contributions to a default superannuation fund. Under current rules, employers can add new employees to their default superannuation fund where the person has not chosen a fund. From 1 November, employers will now be required to contact the…
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Further to my previous post Can You Make Staff Have the COVID-19 Vaccination the Fair Work Ombudsman has announced additional guidance on whether employers can make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory in their workplaces. The guidance breaks work into 4 broad tiers: Tier 1 work, where employees are required as part of their duties to interact with…
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To protect our workplaces from the ever-present risk of COVID, we need to encourage staff to take personal leave and get tested if they are feeling unwell. But what do you do when you have a staff member who is frequently absent seemingly without good reason? Here are some key things to put in place:…
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How to protect your business from legal action after a termination There are a number of legal options available to terminated employees. These include: Unfair Dismissal claim in the Fair Work Commission; General Protections/Adverse Action claim in the Fair Work Commission Discrimination claim under a state based Anti-discrimination/EEO legislation or federal Human Rights and Equal…
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Yesterday in Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that we will be expanding our COVID-19 vaccination rollout, with mass vaccination centres set to operate later in the year when supply becomes available. So, with access to the vaccine opening up, are employers able to require their staff to ‘get the jab‘? Like all difficult questions,…
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Why it’s important to agree on days and hours to be worked. Whether it’s a new role or casual conversion to a permanent part-time status, agreeing on a pattern of days and hours worked is important. What are Ordinary Hours and why are they important? Ordinary hours refers to the hours that an employer has…
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The recent amendments to the parental leave provisions in the Fair Work Act acknowledge the trauma associated with losing a child. The Fair Work Amendment (Improving Unpaid Parental Leave for Parents of Stillborn Babies and Other Measures Bill 2020) was given assent in late November 2020. The changes to the Act are intended to improve…
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The Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Act 2021 (Cth) commenced operation on 27 March 2021. Employers only have until 27 September 2021 to ensure their casual staffing arrangements comply. 1. Provide all existing and future casuals with a copy of the Fair Work Casual Employee Information Statement (CEIS) – Small business employers must…
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Ordinary disciplinary procedures don’t apply for staff under probation. Probation periods in employment contracts Written employment agreements often provide for a probation period of 3-6 months to assess a person’s performance in their new role. Employment can be terminated at any point within this period without risk of an unfair dismissal application. Employment contracts…
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