Your HR System and Smarts for SME Success
Case: Social media use after hours An employee of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship applied to the court for an interlocutory injunction to prevent adverse action by her employer, who she believed was planning to terminate her employment. The employee used a Twitter account under a pseudonym to express her criticisms of government and […]
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As part of its annual wage review, the Fair Work Commission’s Expert Panel has today ordered an increase to the national minimum wage of 3.3%. The new national minimum wage will be $694.90 per week or $18.30 per hour. This constitutes an increase of $22.20 per week to the weekly rate or 59 cents per […]
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A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission sets out when repeated breaches of company policies and procedures may be reasonable grounds for dismissal. Case Study: Harvey v MMG Australia Ltd [2016] FWC 7351 Mr Harvey was employed as a truck driver by MMG Australia Ltd. One night, in February 2016, Mr […]
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Case Study: AMWU v Forgacs Engineering On 22 February 2016, the AMWU made an application in relation to an interpretation of the Forgacs Engineering Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2013. The Commission was asked to determine whether prior periods of casual service count as service for the purposes of notice of termination and severance payments. The […]
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It is well accepted that sexual harassment in the workplace is contrary to the law and allegations should be taken seriously and addressed appropriately and proportionately. Importantly, investigations into allegations of sexual harassment must be undertaken in accordance with Company policy and must ensure procedural fairness to both the victim and alleged perpetrator. These […]
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Employers are required to take all reasonable steps to provide a safe workplace, and it is generally accepted that this duty can extend to preventing the risk of psychological harm caused by stress. However, employees often encounter difficulties when making claims in ‘overwork’ scenarios, particularly where they have agreed in their contracts to perform the […]
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A recent Fair Work Commission decision held that an employer had a valid reason to dismiss an employee who created an unsafe work environment by threatening his colleague with violence. Maile v Inception WA Pty Ltd as trustee of the Araminta Trust T/A Jackson Asphalt [2016] FWC 6176 A foreman, who was a supervisor on […]
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In April, HR Legal reported on a decision of the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) which granted an employer leave to appeal against an earlier decision in which the FWC had rejected the assessment conducted by an independent occupational physician at the employer’s direction. The worker had been injured in a skydiving […]
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Fair Work Ombudsman v Step Ahead Security Services Pty Ltd and Another A private security firm, Step Ahead Services Pty Ltd, had paid eight casual security staff flat hourly rates of $20 on weekdays, $25 on weekends, and $30 on public holidays. Separate overtime and other penalties in the Security Services Award 2010 were not […]
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As part of its annual wage review, the Fair Work Commission’s Expert Panel has today ordered an increase to the national minimum wage of 2.4%. The new national minimum wage will be $672.70 per week or $17.70 per hour. This constitutes an increase of $15.80 per week to the weekly rate or 41 cents per […]
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