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More often than we’d like, we see clients as employers receiving bullying claims in response to their attempts at employee performance management. These unfortunate situations can sometimes arise from an employer simply mishandling, or neglecting to, manage performance correctly. In this article we outline what does and does not constitute bullying in the workplace, and …

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has recently commended McDonald’s Australia for conducting a self- audit on its employees’ wages and other entitlements, leading to improved workplace relations for the 90,000-strong restaurant chain. McDonald’s had agreed to participate in the self-audit following an unsuccessful attempt to have an enterprise agreement approved by Fair Work Australia. Although …

It’s mid February already. If you’re a small to medium business owner you may be finalising your business plan for the year ahead – or perhaps your team has its head down, on the way to achieving its goals for this quarter. Managing your business’ performance effectively entails managing your employees’ performance effectively. An annual …

Four important changes to unfair dismissal laws: how they impact you In October, the Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten announced that parliament will implement numerous important changes to the Fair Work Act this year, following an independent review of the Act in June 2012. Chief among these changes are those concerning complaints brought about by employees …

Employers beware: Be clear – and legal – when dismissing an employee If you are a business owner or HR practitioner, consider this fraught scenario: an employee is dismissed after refusing to agree to changes in his employment terms and conditions, and threatening to involve a union – leading to a claim of adverse action …

Given the increasing number of claims brought under the general protection provisions, set out in the Fair Work Act, it is beneficial for employers to have a basic understanding of what is meant by ‘general protections’ or ‘adverse action’. Put simply, the general protection provisions mean that a person may not take adverse action against …

Minimum Wage Review 2012 Fair Work Australia’s minimum wage panel released its 2012 Annual Minimum Wage Decision on Friday, 1 June 2012. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, the Minimum Wage Panel of Fair Work Australia must conduct an annual wage review in each financial year. The decision handed down by the Panel on Friday …

Getting It Right – Employee Leave Entitlements on entry, exit and during the course of employment Welcome to our ‘Getting It Right’ series. This is the first of our series of articles addressing employee leave and their entitlements upon commencing employment, during employment, resignation and termination. This week we are looking at annual leave and …

Don’t Discount Redeployment Options to a Junior Role When Making Employees Redundant The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“the Act”) provides guidelines and provisions on the process of dismissing an employee, and in what circumstances a dismissal may be consider unfair. Under the Act, an employer will be exempt from an unfair dismissal remedy if …

Recently, there have been a few articles in the national news covering the issue of employees who have been sacked via text message. As an employment law firm, we have also witnessed the use of email and other electronic means to terminate employees. In the recent text message case, Fair Work Australia (FWA) had to …