Is your business ready for the changes that will come into effect due to the Fair Work Legislation Closing Loopholes? Join us for a seminar as our Employment team discuss: Changes to the test for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. Right to disconnect - A [...]
Managing a situation involving an employee suffering non-work related injuries can be challenging, and often difficult to navigate. It is widely misunderstood by employers that non-work related injuries automatically provide legal grounds to terminate an employee, however this is legally not the case. Employers have strict obligations they must adhere [...]
A new Bill, Closing Loopholes No 2, has passed Parliament on 12 February 2024, introducing new reforms allowing employees to disconnect outside work hours. The legislation has come about from a push by the Greens party to strengthen employees’ rights regarding their time away from work. What is an employee’s [...]
We continue to see strong interest from employer clients in the establishment of employee share or option schemes as a means of attracting, motivating and retaining staff.Join us for a seminar as our Partner Michael Bishop discusses:reasons to establish an employee share scheme;the different types of schemes which may be used;structuring [...]
Late last year, our Employment Team covered the case in which an employee was validly dismissed for failing to be present in the office during her mandatory office days. A recent Fair Work decision has outlined the contrary with the absence of the employee on his mandatory office days not [...]
A ruling earlier this year from the Fair Work Commission has changed the rules around employee leave during office closure period. As a result of this 4 yearly review of modern awards, from 1 May 2023, employers may no longer require an employee to take unpaid leave during an office [...]
The positive duty was introduced into the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA) in December 2022 and was a key recommendation of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s (Commission) landmark Respect@Work Report in 2020 led by former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins. Organisations and businesses now have a positive duty to take ‘reasonable and [...]
Our Taxation team at Pointon Partners are often asked to advise on whether employers are obliged to pay superannuation for the services of a contractor for the purposes of the Superannuation Guarantee Act when a dispute has arisen. This has been highlighted by recent ATO activity where disgruntled contractors have [...]
Flexible working arrangements are becoming increasingly important for organisations attempting to access talent, boost productivity and to improve the work/life balance for employees. Recently, the Fair Work Commission rejected an employee’s claim that she was unfairly dismissed as she was working remotely without her employer’s consent. This case highlights that [...]
Working Hard or Hardly Working at Home? – Unfair Dismissal Claim Falls Short With the work environment progressively adopting a hybrid approach, it is crucial that employers recognise that employee responsibilities remain consistent both when working remotely and in the office. Early last month a Fair Work Commission case decided [...]
