As the introduction of the Fair Work Act approaches the six-month mark, HR Daily gives you a run-down of five recent bargaining rulings - and why they matter.
End-of-year celebrations have always been fraught with risk, but the proliferation of mobile devices adds "e-harassment" to the list of potential risks employers must address, according to lawyer Lisa Berton.
Employers should act swiftly to ensure their directors, managers and senior executives will not be left "out of pocket" under new legislation designed to cap excessive termination payments, says Harmers Workplace Lawyers partner Jamie Robinson.
More than half of Australian workers don't currently feel able to negotiate pay with their employer, and less than half of those who do have taken action in the past year, according to the University of Sydney's Workplace Research Centre.
As the job market strengthens and inter-company movement increases, employers will be more likely to pursue litigation to guard their assets, predicts Harmers Workplace Lawyers partner Shana Schreier-Joffe.
With the holiday season approaching, employers need to beware that if they grant employees leave in advance there's a risk they won't be able to deduct it from the final pay packet, says DLA Phillips Fox senior associate Alex Manos.
"Naming and shaming" would be more effective than quotas in redressing the gender imbalance against women in senior leadership roles, according to former Apple managing director, Di Ryall.
Industries that use a lot of on-call workers are moving towards people management best practice, but there is still work to be done, says HR Centre strategist Katherine Graham.
The Australian Services Union hopes to raise the pay of community services workers by up to 30 per cent, in Fair Work Australia's first pay-equity test case.
An employer has successfully argued that the importance of its brand and reputation as a responsible producer of alcoholic beverages entitled it to sack a worker who was caught drink-driving his private car outside of work hours.
