Our legal experts will keep you up to date on all relevant and current developments.
A labour hire provider in NSW was recently ordered to pay a fine of $82,500 after one of its workers sustained injuries at a client's worksite. This article contains a summary of the case, including a summary of the duties owed by employers to their workers under the WHS Act. The case highlights the need for employers to work closely with workers, clients and other duty holders under the WHS Act to eliminate or respond to workplace risks.
The recent passage of the Federal Government’s Closing the Loopholes Bill (No. 2) introduced significant and controversial reforms, including the 'right to disconnect'. This article addresses what is the right to disconnect and what are the expectations.
The Fair Work Legislative Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 has been split, with the first part of the Bill passing the Senate this afternoon. The remaining section that passed through the House of Representatives last week will proceed to the Senate in early 2024. To assist employers prepare for the proposed changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (‘the Act’) Holman Webb has highlighted the key amendments (from a total of over 80 proposed changes), which will likely have the greatest impact.
Holman Webb is pleased to announce that eleven lawyers have been included in the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in Australia, and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Australia. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.
In July 2022, Safe Work Australia released a new Code of Practice concerning the management of psychosocial hazards at work. This document is very similar to a Code released by SafeWork NSW in May 2021. These Codes require employers to take active steps to manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
Holman Webb expects that these Codes may well cause significant tension within the workplace, as they not only consider equipment and processes for doing work, they also relate to the way that staff and managers interact, and how abstract concepts such as workload and communications are managed in a way that protects workers.
The Codes are not only important for guiding employers on practices relating to the maintenance of safe workplaces – it is likely that these two Codes will form the framework through which psychological injury claims will be made and judged. As such, it is necessary for employers to have a strong understanding of these Codes.
This two-part blog series will answer:
In July 2022, Safe Work Australia released a new Code of Practice concerning the management of psychosocial hazards at work. This document is very similar to a Code released by SafeWork NSW in May 2021. These Codes require employers to take active steps to manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
Holman Webb expects that these Codes may well cause significant tension within the workplace, as they not only consider equipment and processes for doing work, they also relate to the way that staff and managers interact, and how abstract concepts such as workload and communications are managed in a way that protects workers.
The Codes are not only important for guiding employers on practices relating to the maintenance of safe workplaces – it is likely that these two Codes will form the framework through which psychological injury claims will be made and judged. As such, it is necessary for employers to have a strong understanding of these Codes.
Part II in this series will answer:
The passage of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (Cth) has brought about significant changes to the obligation on employers to provide Flexible Working Arrangements. Holman Webb foreshadowed these changes in our October 2022 article The Future of Flexible Work: Amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009.
In this article, we will discuss the specific changes.
The changes come into force on 6 June 2023. It is important that employers consider the changes, given the prevalence of flexible working arrangements in the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdowns
On 26 October 2022, the Commonwealth Government announced that it will introduce legislation to amend the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009, as it relates to flexible work arrangements.
Purportedly, the purpose of the amendments is to give the Fair Work Commission power to order that employers deal with requests for flexible workplace arrangements. The legislation may also give the Fair Work Commission power to order that flexible workplace arrangements be put in place.
The wording of the Bill has not yet been published – however, if the final Bill matches industry expectations, it will for the first time give the Fair Work Commission direct independent power to order flexible work arrangements outside the scope of the disability legislative scheme.
The Federal Court has recently delivered several decisions which must give corporations engaged in retail and financial services some pause for thought - especially in relation to their preparation of standard contract terms and conditions.
This article discusses two recent matters:
The first decision analyses the far-reaching powers within the Australian Consumer Law to prohibit and strike down unfair contracts. The second decision relates to the banning of unconscionable conduct in respect of franchise operations.
It is common for businesses (particularly those in the service industries) to experience bullying and harassment when interacting and dealing with complaints from customers and other non-employee workplace participants in the business.
This can cause stress and anxiety for staff in the work environment.
These issues have come to the forefront as businesses continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing their own policies and procedures for ensuring a safe place of work - and also by ensuring that public health orders are complied with.