Flourish Employment Blog
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Enterprise Agreements: How Do They Operate And How Can They Be Terminated?
For larger organisations, or employers who engage a multifaceted workforce, an enterprise agreement (“EA”) can be a very sensible and practical instrument to simplify the terms and conditions of employment for its workforce. It is not uncommon for employers to have a...
Government Passes Far Reaching Legislation Affecting All Employers
The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 (“The Bill”) has passed the Parliament, after the House of Representatives yesterday accepted amendments made in the Senate. The new law will apply from the day after the Bill receives royal assent,...
What Type of Employment is Best?
Hiring a new employee is a crucial decision in any business. However, deciding on the most appropriate employment relationship for a growing business can be a daunting prospect. With so many types of employment arrangements now available such as full-time and...
Termination of Employment: Key Learnings for Employers
The termination of the employment relationship is one of the most challenging and frequently litigated areas in employment law. Unsurprisingly, the first half of 2017 has been no exception. There have been numerous cases go before our judicial system which have raised...
If You Cannot Find It – You Cannot Rely on It: The Importance of Contract Administration
With the arduous task of conducting performance appraisals out of the way, many employers understandably think the hard yards have been done. Although carrying out performance reviews may necessitate both positive and negative conversations with employees, depending...
Performance Management – Why it is a Misnomer
Phew - annual Performance Reviews done! This is an often heard at this time of year. Unfortunately, performance management and annual or bi-annual reviews instill dread in both the employee and managers tasked with conducting performance reviews. However, despite the...
How to Manage “Serial Sickies”: What can you do about employees taking repetitive sick leave?
Some employees hardly take any personal leave, and continue to accrue their personal leave days each year. However, on the other end of the spectrum, some employees appear to take vast amounts of sick leave, and often in excess of the statutory minimum of 10 days paid...
The Carrot and the Stick: The Tricky Issue of Appropriate Disciplinary Action by Employers
Disciplinary action for poor or inappropriate performance is all too often seen in very one-dimensional terms. Often, it can be a fantastic opportunity for the business to address difficult issues in a constructive and ultimately extremely cost effective way. However,...
The $6 million Cost of Misusing Confidential Information
A recent decision of the Appellate Division of the Federal Court of Australia has recently decided to award over $6 million dollars in damages to an ex-employer in relation to the misuse of its confidential information by two former employees. What is most interesting...
Employee Remuneration: It all Starts with the Dollars and Cents
The ability to attract and retain talented staff greatly benefits an organisation’s ability to sustain a competitive advantage. The loss of a key employee can have a significantnegative impact the business. Remuneration plays an important factor in the attraction,...
FWO WARNING “GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER”
Fair Work Ombudsman Warning to Employers The Australian Government has consistently signalled that it intends to ensure companies who do not pay their employees properly or who have breached the workplace laws will face significant penalties. Given the numerous high...
Can an Employee be Restrained for 10 Years?
Surprising as it may seem, a Western Australian Court has accepted that a 10 year restraint may in fact be enforceable. An engineer with highly specialised skills has temporarily been barred from working with any competitors in Western Australia after the Western...
Landmark Penalty Rates Decision
The Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) handed down a landmark decision yesterday regarding the payment of penalty rates that may have far reaching consequences for many employees and their employers. As part of the 4-yearly review of modern awards under section 156 of the...
Jury Duty – What Must Employers Know?
In NSW, each year approximately 200,000 potential jurors are randomly selected from the NSW Electoral Roll and included on a jury list. Approximately 150,000 of these people are sent a jury summons notice at some point in the year. This notice will require them to...
Breach of Confidentiality – Is your Business Information Safe?
Most employees will deal with some sort of confidential information belonging to their employer, during the course of their employment. Confidential information may include client or supplier lists, price information, strategic business plans, databases, details of...
Exploitation of Migrant Workers: A Systemic Issue
According to a report released by the Senate Education and Employment References Committee entitled “A National Disgrace: The Exploitation of Temporary Work Visa Holders” dated 17 March 2016 there are approximately 1.4 million temporary visa holders working in...
Age, Why Should It Matter at Work?
It is no secret that the composition of Australia’s population is much older today than it has been in the past, and both the number and proportion of older people is growing steadily. In 2014, the number of people aged 65 and over was 3.4 million, a three-folder...
PRIVACY IN THE WORKPLACE
Employers are not always aware of their obligations in relation to privacy in the workplace. The invasion of employee privacy can occur in a number of different ways including through records and information, physical and electronic surveillance and monitoring. In...