By Athena Koelmeyer of Workplace Law The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has a vital role to play in the management of the current COVID-19 pandemic as it continues to impact employment relationships across the country. One aspect of the FWC’s role is the determination of applications by employers to reduce the amount of redundancy pay payable to employees. In making such determinations, the FWC is tasked with exercising its discretion based on the facts and circumstances of the employer. Where an employer claims that it cannot afford to pay redundancy pay, it must able to demonstrate that fact to ..read more

By Aaron Dearden, Alison Baker and Karli Thomas of Hall & Wilcox More than 4 million Australians have downloaded the Federal Government’s digital contact tracing app ‘COVIDSafe’ since it was launched on 26 April 2020. Many employers will want their employees to download COVIDSafe but can they ‘require’ employees to do so? The Federal Government is urging more Australians to download the voluntary app to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and to allow social distancing restrictions to be eased. Many employers will want their employees to download COVIDSafe to help protect the health and safe ..read more

The Federal government has announced that it will provide eligible employers who have taken a significant financial hit as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak with the funds to pay their full-time, part-time and long-term casual employees $1,500 per fortnight. The JobKeeper Payment will be paid to employers, for up to 6 months, for each eligible employee who was on their books on 1 March 2020 and is retained or continues to be engaged by that employer (including those who have been stood down). When will payments be made? The program will commence on 30 March 2020, with the first payme ..read more

By Geraldine Johns-Putra (Partner) and Hannah McLeod (Senior Associate) of MinterEllison. Following an international conference on modern slavery: ‘Implementing Australia’s Modern Slavery Act – Know Your Supply Chains’, our team shares new insights and takeaways. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) has been in force for six months, and the first Modern Slavery statements will start falling due in 2020. With a view to equipping companies to comply with the Act, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) recently hosted Australia’s first international conference on modern slavery: ‘Implementing ..read more