News

Work and Care Inquiry told “grandparental leave”, reduction in full-time hours needed

19/10/2022

The Senate Select Committee on Work and Care was appointed by resolution of the Senate on 3 August 2022, having been constructed to inquire into the impact that combining work and care responsibilities has on the wellbeing of workers, carers, and those they care for. Various submissions lodged before the 22 September deadline advocate for the reduction of the full-time work week from 38 hours to 32 hours, along with the introduction of unpaid grandparental leave and increasing the accessibility of flexible working arrangements.

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Pre-shift “work” to cost Aldi millions, claims SDA

19/10/2022

The Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) claims Aldi supermarkets owes approx. 4000 employees up to $10 million in backpay after Judge Humphreys of the Federal Circuit and Family Court ruled that a series of “pre-commencement activities” employees were expected to perform each day constituted “work”, meaning “the time taken to perform those tasks is liable for payment by the employer”.

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Cancelled shifts, blocked app access amounted to dismissal of Casual Educator

19/10/2022

The Fair Work Commission has awarded compensation to a casual Early Childhood Educator who had less than a year of service, after finding she was unfairly dismissed when her employer cancelled her pre-agreed shifts for a week and subsequently deactivated her access to the centre’s rostering app without notifying her.

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Christmas Shutdown basics for Employers

11/10/2022

The rules for employees taking leave during a temporary closure for Christmas/New Year were standardised from May 2023 onwards. If your business is taking a break over Christmas, you can check-in on your obligations to your employees over the Festive Season with our updated post here.

Employers to foot bill for 10 days PAID Family & Domestic Violence Leave from 2023

02/08/2022

In its first sitting week of Parliament, the Albanese Government made good on an election promise, introducing the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022 to the House of Representatives. If passed, the Bill will amend the National Employment Standards (NES) to provide for 10 days of PAID family and domestic violence leave for all national-system employees as a guaranteed minimum standard.

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Whopping compensation for sacked jab abstainer who didn’t need to be vaccinated

02/08/2022

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has awarded a Western Australian employee the equivalent of six months’ wages compensation after finding her dismissal on the basis of her vaccination status was unfair, with her employer rapidly conceding during formal proceedings that it incorrectly deemed a State Government issued COVID-19 vaccination mandate applied to her employment.

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FWC scraps 9-year-old EBA, despite protestations of staff

02/08/2022

A security worker, identified only as ‘Employee X’, has successfully lobbied the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to have the 2013 enterprise agreement that captured their employment cancelled, even though many of the employee’s nearly 500 co-workers argued they would end up considerably worse off if they were instead subject to the relevant modern award.

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