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Abbott Government tables its first Bill of Fair Work Act amendments in Parliament
The Abbott Government has tabled the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014 (the Bill) as its first raft of amendments outlined in the Coalition's IR Policy. The proposed amendments mainly concern: unpaid parental leave additional periods; payment provisions for annual leave; Individual Flexibility Agreement (IFA) terms under modern awards and enterprise agreements; greenfield agreements; transfer of business between associated entities; protected action ballot orders; right of entry provisions; and Fair Work Commission (FWC) hearings and conferences. The amendments are summarised in the table below: Current provision under the Fair Work Act Proposed amendment under the Bill Unpaid parental leave An employee who takes unpaid parental ...
17 March 2014Offsetting over award payments is not an automatic right
National Workplace Lawyers is frequently asked by clients whether they can off-set award and other entitlements against higher wage or salary payments made to employees. In New Image Photographics Pty Ltd v Fair Work Ombudsman [2013] FCA 1385, Federal Court, on appeal from the Federal Magistrates Court (as it then was) was required to consider, among other matters, whether the employer could off-set wage entitlements against other payments made to an employee. Background Ms Keen was employed as a casual telemarketer by New Image Photographics Pty Ltd (New Image). During the period of Ms Keen's employment, she was not paid the casual loading set out in the award in addition to her ordinary hourly rate of pay. However for a significant portion of her employment she was paid above the ordinary hourly rate of pay applicable to her role. With the passing of time, the over award amount paid to her fell below the minimum ...
26 February 2014Employer's hard line policy on porn does not always justify dismissal
Introduction A recent Full Bench decision of the Fair Work Commission held that an employer's hard line policy relating to pornographic material will not always justify dismissal of an employee. It also confirmed that the principles which apply to dismissal for misconduct also apply to misconduct relating to accessing, sending, receiving and storage of pornographic material in the workplace. National Workplace Lawyers explains further below. Background Australia Post installed a filter system on their computer software which monitored email transmissions in and out of its IT system and flagged emails with attachments likely to be pornographic. As a result, several breaches of Australia Post's email policy regarding the use of its IT system to send, store or receive pornographic material were identified. Forty employees were disciplined as a result of a breach of the policy. The discipline ranged from warnings to termination of em...
30 January 2014