A business that knowingly and repeatedly breached labour hire licensing laws has been fined more than $600,000, which is believed to be the highest in Australian labour hire law history. Victorian Supreme Court Associate Justice Mary-Jane Ierodiaconou said the pecuniary penalty to be paid by A L Star Express Pty Ltd needed to be “sufficiently high not to be the ‘price of doing business'”. Victoria’s labour hire watchdog launched its prosecution of the company in May, claiming it supplied at least 16 labour hire workers to four farm operators across Victoria. In June 2021, the Labour Hire Autho ..read more

From 6 December 2023, new rules apply when engaging employees on fixed term contracts. New rules for fixed term contracts A fixed term contract terminates at the end of a set period (for example, the contract ends on a set date or after a set period of time or a season). The new rules include a requirement for employers to give any employees they’re engaging on a new fixed term contract a Fixed Term Contract Information Statement (FTCIS). They also include some limitations on how fixed term contracts can be used. There are some exceptions to who these limitations apply to which means they don ..read more

Our office will be closing over the holiday period between Christmas and New Year. During this typical quieter period, our HR advisory services will also operate at reduced capacity. All other services such as our HR software and online resources will continue to operate as normal. See below for more details. General Enquiries Our general enquiries call centre will be closing over the Christmas and New Year. Closing: 5.00pm AEST on Friday 22 December 2023. Re-opening: 9.00am AEST on Monday 8 January 2024. If your enquiry isn’t urgent, we will contact you as soon as possible when we return ..read more

The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured a total of $21,456 in penalties and back-payment orders in court against a Perth CBD-based information technology company and its director. The Federal Circuit and Family Court has imposed a $12,000 penalty against Saga Source Pty Ltd and a $2,500 penalty against its sole director Ayden Lee Hernan-Sayers. The penalties were imposed in response to Saga Source failing to comply with a Compliance Notice requiring it to calculate and back-pay entitlements to a worker it employed as a junior backend developer between November 2020 and December 2021. Mr Hernan-Say ..read more

Christmas is about 6 weeks away and employers need to prepare now for the holiday season. Key considerations for employers are: Employers may need to give employees written notice, which in most awards is currently at least 28 days, if it intends to shut down over the Christmas period. Employers may need to make a reasonable request for employees to work on the upcoming public holidays if their business operates every day of the year. Employees can reasonably refuse that request. Preparing for workplace socials such as the Office Christmas Party. Workplaces closed over Christmas Earlier in 2 ..read more

A Gippsland restaurant has been found guilty of exploiting Victoria’s child employment laws. The Three Double 8 Zero Pizza Bar & Grill in Paynesville was fined $4000 for 40 breaches, including from employing under-15s without a permit to breaking shift and rest break rules. The matters first came to light in 2022, when Wage Inspectorate Victoria began its investigation. It was found that despite being contacted by the regulator about child employment conditions, it continued to breach conditions. The offences occurred between 22 May 2022 and 5 February 2023. In sentencing, Magistrate Caro ..read more

To ensure compliance with Australian employment law as well as to be able to pay and manage employees compliantly, it is of utmost importance that employers are aware of the Modern Awards and Enterprise Agreements applicable to them and their employees, the difference between the two and what kind of entitlements these contain, to be able to pay and manage staff compliantly. In the below article, we explore these in further detail and what exactly the difference is between these two types of documents. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) sets out the minimum entitlements and employment conditions for ..read more

Starbucks Coffee Australia Pty Ltd (Starbucks) has back-paid staff in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast more than $4.5 million. The amount includes more than $4.34 million in wages and entitlements, more than $180,000 in interest and more than $40,000 in superannuation – to 2,427 current and former employees, who were underpaid between 2014 and 2020. Starbucks must also make a $150,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth’s Consolidated Revenue Fund as part of of Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman. Most of the underpayments were the result of Starbucks failing ..read more

Tasmania’s largest aged care operator, Southern Cross Care (Tasmania) is back-paying 1,708 current and former employees a total of $6.87 million, including $5,806,756 in wages and entitlements, plus $313,591 in superannuation and $754,181 in interest. After identifying fundamental errors in its payroll and human resources systems. The not-for-profit organisation, which operates aged care facilities and offers home and community care services, is also required to provide the Fair Work Ombudsman with evidence of systems and processes it has put in place to ensure future compliance; commission wo ..read more

As per our earlier post, below is an update on the Fair Work Act 2009 amendments. Some changes have already come into effect, while others become effective later this year or next year. Changes to Unpaid Parental Leave From 1 July 2023, the Fair Work Act includes greater flexibility for employees taking unpaid parental leave. This change aligns with the updates made to the Paid Parental Leave scheme, which also became effective from 1 July 2023. All employees in Australia are now eligible for unpaid parental leave if they have completed at least 12 months of continuous service with their emplo ..read more