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Tim Trezise recently presented a paper at the Employment Law Essentials seminar at the New South Wales Law Society. The paper canvassed the growing issue of the standard of proof required to make defensible findings in workplace investigations. This has become a hot topic following a recent case that significantly broadened the scope of the level of proof required in such endeavours.
It is no longer certain that an employee injured on a journey between home and work will receive worker’s compensation benefits.
For compensation to be payable, the NSW Act now requires that there be a ‘real and substantial connection’ between the employment and the incident in which the injury occurred.
Amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Fair Work Act) give the Fair Work Commission jurisdiction over complaints of bullying in workplaces covered by the Fair Work Act. Previously, bullying could only be raised as an example of conduct that may breach adverse action provisions of the Fair Work Act or unfair dismissal laws. The amendments commence on 1 January 2014, six months later than originally proposed. Click here to read more.
The Scheme does not provide income replacement benefits, such as a disability pension or weekly compensation entitlement, but may fund supports, such as:
London's Technology and Construction Court has recently found that a company did not own the emails of its former Chief Executive Office, even though they were work related.
The case turned on its own facts, one of which involved the senior executive sending and receiving company emails using private or non corporate accounts and servers.
The physical storage of the emails was what caused the problem. At a practical level, the emails were not on the employer’s servers. Some had been sent using the executive’s private account (and therefore held on external third party servers), others had been sent from a work server, but copied to the personal server and, thereafter, deleted from the employer’s server.
Access to emails is often an important management tool, which facilitates good and proper administration, in relation to the affairs of a business, but, also, is important in corporate negotiations and, potentially, disciplinary matters. In those circumstances, it is important to ensure that emails of a work nature are sent and received using company facilities and not by utilising private or non corporate accounts and servers.
Sexual harassment is an all too common and lamentable act that can damage an employer’s credibility and, to a degree, destabilises an organisation’s commercial goals. A recent case involving a software company and a consulting manager employed there, highlights the absolute importance of giving due attention to detail in policies, as the company was ultimately held responsible for an employee’s conduct because it failed to clearly state that sexual harassment is unlawful.
Articles on Health, Medico-Legal, Life Sciences, Retirement Living and Aged Care plus Workplace Safety law and a Food Safety Update of Hospitals and Aged Care Facilities.