With New South Wales edging closer to the 70% double-vaccination target required for the state to start ‘opening up’, and the associated changes to restrictions being rapidly made, Holman Webb’s Workplace Relations Group thought it timely to review the status of mandatory vaccinations for employees within New South Wales.

In the recent decision of Infosys Technologies Limited v State Of Victoria [2021] VSCA 219, the Victorian Court of Appeal held that that an employer is not liable to make long service leave payments to former employees in circumstances where part of their employment has been undertaken outside Victoria, and where there is no sufficient connection between that external employment and the State of Victoria.

Presented by Professor Catherine Bennett, Deakin’s Chair of Epidemiology and Holman Webb Workplace Relations Partner Alicia Mataere and Associate Lee Pike on Thursday 26 August, this webinar examined the impact that COVID-19, and specifically the Delta strain, is set to impact Australian workplaces.

Click through to view the webinar recording, and to access the accompanying slides.

When working parents are struggling to balance remote learning and their own responsibilities as an employee during lockdown, employers often wonder what options are available for them to help their staff.

As each employee’s circumstances will be different, it is impossible to apply a blanket rule - so the best way for employers to assist their employees in managing their individual responsibilities during lockdown is to have a full understanding of the options available to them.

In this article we explore three key options for employers:

1. Flexible Working Arrangements
2. Schedule X – Pandemic Leave Award Provisions
3. COVID-19 Long Service Leave Amendments

Join Professor Catherine Bennett, Deakin’s Chair of Epidemiology and Holman Webb Workplace Relations Partner Alicia Mataere and Associate Lee Pike on Thursday 26 August as they discuss:

• How has Delta changed the game?
• How can businesses manage the risk of Delta in the workplace?
• Can you ask employees to declare their vaccination status?
• What are the potential consequences of a Delta outbreak in your workplace?
• What will the workplace look like following COVID-19 and Delta?

Click through to register your attendance today!

Workplace Relations Partner Alicia Mataere recently presented to members of the Association of Corporate Counsel on the topic of Casual Employment Recent Changes, Compliance, Enterprise Bargaining and Award Flexibility.

Click through to view the webinar recording.

In the lengthy Federal Court judgment in Transport Workers Union of Australia v Qantas Airways Limited 2021 FCA 873 delivered on 30 July 2021, Lee J  found that Qantas took adverse action when it made over 2,000 workers redundant, and that the airline could not prove that its reasons for doing so were not prohibited by the Fair Work Act 2009. 

The consequences of the breach are yet to be determined.

In light of the recent extended lockdown in Sydney, and the new short lockdown in Melbourne, the question again arises in relation to whether an employer can require its workers to be vaccinated against the COVID‑19 virus.

There are a myriad of discretionary issues for an employer to step through in determining whether it can direct its workers to be vaccinated; as well as what steps an employer can take if the worker refuses to follow such a direction.

Holman Webb Lawyers is proud to relay that the firm has been listed as a finalist in two categories in the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2021:

• Law Firm of the Year
• Insurance Team of the Year

Click through for more information on this year's finalists, and upcoming winner announcements.

An Arbitrator in the Personal Injury Commission has found that a worker, who sustained psychiatric injury when her employer stood her down during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, was not entitled to compensation.