Employers that retrench workers without ensuring their financial wellbeing run the risk of damaging their brands - and facing litigation, says ipac corporate consultant Nola Rihani.
A $466,000 damages award is a timely reminder of how devastating the effects of workplace sexual harassment can be on both the victim and the employer if the issue is dealt with poorly, says Harriet Stacey of WISE Workplace Investigations.
Employers that defy the traditional adversarial approach to workplace negotiations when the new bargaining laws kick off this week will have a competitive edge over those that fail to engage with all business stakeholders, says lawyer, mediator and CoSolve director Clive Thompson.
An IT recruitment company has been stung with a $20,000 damages bill for misleading a worker on its bonus scheme - and other employers, a lawyer says, could find themselves in the same boat if they withhold critical information from new employees.
Alcohol use accounts for millions of lost working days in Australia every year, and has been linked to nearly a fifth of workplace accidents, but sacking problem workers is not the solution, according to a health and wellbeing advisor.
Women in the most senior HR positions earn just half of what their male equivalents do, an analysis of remuneration in Australia's top 200 companies has found.
The new workplace laws coming into effect next week will facilitate a "maturing" of collective bargaining in Australia and require employers to be much more sophisticated in their approach to negotiations, according to workplace lawyer Chris Gardner.
Times might be tough, but resorting to wholesale headcount cuts is as imprudent as shedding any other asset, says human capital academic Dr John Boudreau.
Australian employees are overwhelmingly in favour of working reduced hours if it means avoiding other cost-cutting strategies during the downturn, a survey has found.
