Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “breach”
by Rob Sheppard and Taylah Cooper [IMPORTANT NOTE: this article has been updated as at 06/03/24] [Approx 3.5 min read] The balance between work and life has become an almost continual topic of conversation in the post-Covid SME business world. With the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) Bill 2023 (the ‘amendment’) passing into law, there is now a legal ‘right to disconnect’ for Australian workers established. This amendment to the Fair Work Act 2009 is an attempt to place …
by Rob Sheppard [Approx 3 min read] 2024 marks the year for businesses in Australia to be more aware than ever of how they operate – both in terms of the suite of new employment laws they face and the way businesses attract and retain their workforces. It is especially crucial for SMEs to be aware of the changes in employment conditions and entitlements as they continue to expand their operations (issues impacting 2-3 team members will be exponentially worse …
by Rob Sheppard [Approx 3.5 min read] In the dynamic landscape of Australian industrial relations, interpreting award conditions can be a formidable challenge for businesses of all sizes. Just ask some of the biggest corporations in Australia (ahem- Commonwealth Bank and Woolies just to name two). The complexities involved in understanding both the Western Australian (WA) State system and the Federal (Fair Work) System can seem overwhelming at times. And if you think it’s already tough, brace yourself, because …
by Rob Sheppard [Approx. 4-minute read] Unless you’ve been off in that time-travelling DeLorean again, you will have come to the realisation that Australia’s (ongoing) workplace reforms are an issue for your business you can no longer hide from. Labor governments in WA and Nationally have made no secret of their aspirations to raise working conditions / experience and address a ‘perceived’ imbalance in worker lives…. and this is a driving force behind most of the recent reform. Let’s recap …
You’ve worked hard to make sure you’re competitive by paying your people a good wage for the work you need them to do and for your industry. Perhaps to the point that you pay a higher flat rate so you also don’t have the stress of constantly calculating overtime and all those confusing allowances? So it’s a bit of surprise one day to find that you’re still liable for back pay on overtime and allowances when a disgruntled employee asks …
Records – in particular, records relating to employment. *yawn* But….what if we told you this is often the one area that employers wish they’d paid attention to before they were hit with penalties by an industrial regulator? In our travels, we regularly see missed record keeping requirements that would fail an inspection by an industrial regulator. For example, not having the correct pay level recorded, no date of commencement of employment…or there being no record of the termination of employment! …
A knowledgeable and thoughtful word from CBSW Tax and Business Advisors For over 20 years employers have had a legal requirement to pay superannuation for their employees with respect to their ‘Ordinary Time Earnings’. The current rate for superannuation is 9.5%, which has steadily increased over this time and is scheduled to continue its increase over the coming years. Sometimes, for a range of reasons, employers have underpaid or not paid the correct superannuation contributions. The Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) …
Hands up if you know that casual staff can’t claim for unfair dismissal? If that’s you – think again. In the 2018 decision Gwatkin v Sai Group of Businesses t/as Premier Hotel Pinjarra*, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) held that a casual employee was entitled to an unfair dismissal remedy on the basis they met the minimum employment period, that their work pattern was ‘regular and systematic’ and they had an ongoing expectation of work. [cue sound of record needle …
Have you ever wondered about the privacy of information and the responsibilities the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) may place on your business? You wouldn’t be alone if you have, especially given some high profile data breaches that have hit the media in recent memory (*ahem* Facebook). All these high profile data breaches have made many consumers think of how you use and store their personal information as a business. The 2017 Australian Community …
In the same way that all business owners are in the business of sales and marketing – all business owners with staff are in the business of human resources (HR). Why do we say that? It can cost up to 50% of a team member’s salary to replace them if you don’t recruit the right person first time around – yep, that’s $35,000 for someone on $70,000 Wages are the single most reported cost pressure for WA businesses – so …
