Minimum award wages – On the rise by 5.75%
The Fair Work Commission (Commission) handed down its Annual Wage Review decision on 2 June 2023. The Commission approved a 5.75% increase to modern award minimum wages and the national minimum wage will increase to $23.23 p/h.
Secure Jobs, Better Pay – new prohibitions on sexual harassment have commenced
The next round of amendments as set out in the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (Cth) have taken effect from 6 March 2023.
New penalty and overtime rates for “Professional Employees”
The Fair Work Commission (Commission) has handed down a decision to vary the Professional Employees Award 2020 (Award) to include specific penalty and overtime rates and to clarify that Award’s coverage.
What should your business be doing to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace?
As recently reported in the media, Bakers Delight has been the subject of an investigation by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) to determine its compliance with the positive duty to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate workplace sexual harassment, as far as possible.
Sharp rise in cost-of-living drives 5.2% wage increase
The Fair Work Commission’s (Commission) Expert Panel for annual wage reviews (Panel) handed down its Annual Wage Review decision on 15 June 2022. The Panel approved a $40 per week increase to the National Minimum Wage (NMW), which amounts to an increase of 5.2%.
Are you ready? Victoria’s OH&S laws are changing.
Set to take effect from 1 July 2022, the Victorian government is poised to introduce new psychological health regulations that place a positive duty on employers to identify and mitigate risks of mental injury in the workplace.
Fair termination of worker who refused to return to the workplace post-COVID lockdowns
There has been a great deal of discussion around returning employees to the workplace now that many of the COVID-19 restrictions have lifted, and the extent to which an employer can insist that an employee works from the workplace after an (extended) period of working from home.
COVID-19: The great holiday disrupter!
Despite our mammoth efforts in mass vaccination, it appears COVID-19 has disrupted (and will continue to disrupt!) many employees’ well-deserved break over the festive period (either through isolation or infection).
Have you complied with your consultation obligations?
The recent Full Bench decision of Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, Mr Matthew Howard v Mt Arthur Coal Pty Ltd T/A Mt Arthur Coal [2021] FWCFB 6059 (3 December 2021) considered whether Mt Arthur Coal (operated by BHP) met its consultation obligations in directing 724 employees covered by an enterprise agreement to be vaccinated for COVID-19 to gain entry to the mine.
Tougher COVID-19 vaccine exemption rules in Victoria
On 29 October 2021, COVID-19 vaccination exemption rules tightened to curb Victorian’s doctor shopping and pressuring General Practitioners to grant a medical exemption. If you are an employer or an operator of a specified facility where a vaccination mandate applies and a worker has provided you with a medical exemption, you need to be aware of these changes.