An employer's "very difficult financial position" has not convinced the Fair Work Commission an employee should be denied redundancy pay. Also in this article, Uber Eats' settlement leaves gig work in a "grey zone" as more legal challenges loom.
The employer behind "one of the worst cases of management bullying" a Fair Work Commissioner has ever seen acted too harshly when it sacked a worker who was misinformed about her workplace rights.
The High Court has refused to hear an employer's redundancy-exception appeal, while unions are calling for the "loophole" to be closed. Also in this article, government guides for mentally healthier workplaces; new research on underpayments; and more.
The casuals provisions in the IR omnibus bill would completely remove the uncertainty employers now face around casual employment and their potential for double-dipping claims, an employment lawyer says.
Enterprise bargaining changes in the IR omnibus bill will help ensure the BOOT is applied in the way legislation initially intended, helping more enterprise agreements get approval more quickly, an employment lawyer says.
'Part-time flex' employment is being proposed in this week's IR omnibus bill, while other newly announced measures include a criminal offence of wage theft, and extending pandemic-related flexibilities.
Details of the imminent IR legislation have now been revealed, including a statutory definition of casual work, a fix for double-dipping claims and expanded casual conversion rights.
Making employment laws fit for purpose will require much more than "tweaks", and already there appears to be a lost opportunity for input beyond the "usual suspects" with entrenched views, an IR heavyweight says.
HR's challenges around remote and flexible working will continue to develop in 2021, while compliance is an area that "will come back with a vengeance", an employment lawyer says.
Costly legal disputes continue to highlight the many risks employers face when managing, disciplining, or dismissing employees while they are absent, injured or incapacitated. Attend this webinar for an up-to-date review of the legal framework applying to workplace absenteeism, injury and incapacity, and lessons from recent case law.
