Employee or contractor; full time, part time or casual - these are just some of the labels we place on our workforce. Wrongly categorising your workforce can have serious ramifications. So what's in a name? A heck of a lot writes HR Navigation's Managing Director, Robyn Anderson in the August edition of My Business magazine.    Click to read more.

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Fair Work Australia (FWA) have recently ruled that an independent contractor has access to unfair dismissal after finding the contractor was really an employee.This was despite the fact that the worker (who was engaged to run training programmes on behalf of a training company) had an ABN, submitted tax invoices, was not paid any employment entitlements, determined his own hours and ...

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The Fair Work Ombudsman is turning its attention to franchise networks. In the July 2010 edition of My Business magazine, HR Navigation's Robyn Anderson discusses the IR risks within franchise networks. Click here to download the article

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Following Fair Work Australia's recent criticism of the Small Business Fair Disimissal Code, a new version of the Code has been released today by the Labor Government. The changes follow FWA Senior Deputy President Matthew O'Callaghan's comment in April that the Code was of "dubious value".The revised Code now gives additional information on redundancy and employer responsibilities with regard to ...

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From 1 July 2010, the high income threshold for determining eligibility to make unfair dismissal applications at Fair Work Australia increased from $108,300 to $113,800. This threshold is calculated and indexed annually on 1 July each year. Employees who earn over the high income threshold are prohibited from making an unfair dismissal claim. There are, however, some notable exceptions...

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An Employer and it's Directors are facing fines of up to $200,000 as a result of alleged pregnancy discrimination. This recent NSW case has seen the Fair Work Ombudsman exercise its right to investigate and prosecute on a matter of pregnancy discrimination, via the use of the significantly stronger anti discrimination powers in the Fair Work Act 2009. These new provisions see the onus of proo...

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In a historic decision and a watershed moment in Australia’s workplace laws, the senate passed into law the Rudd Government’s Paid Parental Leave Bill which will bring Australia in line with other western countries.  This scheme will provide primary carers with parental leave of up to 18 weeks, paid at the National Minimum Wage ($569.90 per week, effective 1st July, 2010). Recipie...

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As of 1st July, 2010 modern award minimum wage rates and new pay provisions (including penalty rates) will come into effect for most businesses. Most modern awards contain transitional arrangements that may affect your business. It is important that business owners are aware of what award they now fall under and what classification their employees fit into.Has your business done the ground-wo...

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The Annual National Wage review decision has been handed down by Fair Work Australia today and comes into effect as of 1st July, 2010. This is the first wage decision of the newly formed Fair Work Australia Minimum Wage Panel.   Fair Work Australia's decision sees an increase of $26.00 per week in the National Minimum Wage which is just $1 short of the $27.00 a week sought by the ACTU. The ...

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