by Rob Stevenson | 6 November 2024 | Bulletin
Imagine this scenario. You are called into a meeting on Friday afternoon and presented with a letter of allegations that says you are required to attend a meeting Monday morning to respond and that disciplinary action up to and including termination might occur. You...
by Rob Stevenson | 2 October 2024 | Bulletin
Clients and information should be thought of as assets worth insuring. We may be seeing the last years of contractual non compete clauses but that doesn’t mean contractual post employment restraints don’t have a role to play. They’re not perfect but, like democracy,...
by Rob Stevenson | 18 September 2024 | Bulletin
When purchasing a business, one of the decisions to make is whether to take on the employees of the business being purchased. Before you commit to transferring the employment of existing employees or offering jobs to employees, you should do your employment due...
by Rob Stevenson | 14 August 2024 | Bulletin
The best time to negotiate a good contract of employment is before you start the job. Of course, sometimes contracts are provided on a “take it or leave it” basis, or the response to proposed changes is “HR won’t let us do that”. If this occurs, you should consider...
by Rob Stevenson | 22 July 2024 | Bulletin
Perception is not a basis for management or disciplinary action in the workplace and is not a substitute for reality. This should be a statement of the obvious but we are seeing an increasing trend of employment allegations being based on perceptions rather than...
by Rob Stevenson | 25 June 2024 | Bulletin
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down its Annual Wage Review decision on 3 June 2024. The FWC Expert Panel decided to increase the National Minimum Wage and all modern award rates by 3.75% (the rise last year in award rates was 5.75% and 4.6% the previous year). ...
by Rob Stevenson | 9 May 2024 | Bulletin
We are seeing a period of significant change in the rights, obligations and benefits associated with employment (and small contracting and gig) relationships. Amongst the changes being considered by the federal government is a restriction on the use of contractual non...
by Rob Stevenson | 11 April 2024 | Bulletin
Casual employment has had a difficult history in the law, swinging between common law and statutory regulation in recent years. Further changes will come into force from 26 August 2024. The essential feature of casual employment is its inherent uncertainty, whether...
by Rob Stevenson | 21 March 2024 | Bulletin
Recent attention on the right to disconnect means it is a good time to revisit the underlying requirements of hours of work. The Fair Work Act National Employment Standards (NES) are the foundation of employment law legal obligations. This is because these standards...
by Rob Stevenson | 20 February 2024 | Bulletin
Legislation was recently passed by the federal parliament officially giving employees a “right to disconnect” outside their working hours. Subject to certain narrow exceptions (eg defence and national security), the new right applies to all private sector and federal...
