Australia’s Senate on Thursday, February 8, 2024, passed a bill that would prevent an employer from contacting employees outside of work hours. The bill gives the employee the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to...more
2/9/2024
/ Australia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Off-Duty Employee Access ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Right to Disconnect ,
Wage and Hour
According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the gender pay gap in Australia is 22.8%, with women on average earning...more
2/16/2023
/ Australia ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Pay Gap ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Wage and Hour
On January 20, 2023, Australia’s Fair Work Commission (FWC) issued an important decision that makes significant amendments to the Professional Employees Award 2020 (Award). Documents known as “modern awards” in Australia are...more
Common Law Term of Reasonable Notice Not Displaced by Statutory Minimum Notice Period -
Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency -
In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit Court held that the common law...more
2/8/2022
/ Australia ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Work Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Internships ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) across the globe remains a significant concern in the workplace. Employers are confronting difficult questions regarding how to handle safety and health rules, travel...more
3/11/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Australia ,
Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Australia -
Wage Theft Investigations. The Australia Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWO) 2018-2019 Annual Report, published by the government agency on October 20, 2019, found significant wage theft in the country over the past...more
12/5/2019
/ Australia ,
China ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee's Childcare ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hong Kong ,
India ,
International Labor Laws ,
Japan ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Zealand ,
Paternity Leave ,
Pension Funds ,
Political Speech ,
Protests ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retirement Plan ,
Russia ,
Singapore ,
Social Credit System ,
Temporary Work Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
From October 30, 2019, heavy penalties will apply to labor hire providers who operate without a license and to businesses that use unlicensed labor hire providers in Victoria. Similar schemes apply in Queensland (since 2018)...more
10/25/2019
/ Anti-Bullying Laws ,
Australia ,
Fair Work Commission ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Holidays ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legal Representatives ,
Licensing Rules ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Policy ,
Wage and Hour
Minimum Wage Increase -
New Legislation Enacted -
On July 1, 2019, employees under the national minimum wage and the modern award minimum wage (and in some cases, employees under a registered agreement) are set to...more
The new Australian Whistleblowing laws passed in Parliament on February 19, 2019, and will likely take effect in the next couple of months (July 2019) after it receives Royal Assent. The aim of the Whistleblower Act is to...more
4/19/2019
/ Australia ,
Biometric Information ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Relations ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Retaliation ,
Visas ,
Whistleblowers
In an important update to Australia’s safety laws, the federal government has introduced a definition of “catastrophic injury” in the new Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Catastrophic Injury) Rules 2018 (Rules). ...more
On November 29, 2018, the Australian Government passed the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (the “Act”), which requires all companies operating in Australia and meeting a threshold of AU$100 million in total annual global revenue to...more
12/4/2018
/ Australia ,
Child Labor ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Forced Labor ,
Human Rights ,
Human Trafficking ,
International Labor Laws ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Slavery ,
Supply Chain
Important amendments to Victoria’s long service leave (LSL) laws are taking effect on November 1, 2018 (Long Service Leave Act 2018 (2018 Act))....more
Company Liable for Contract Worker’s Injuries -
Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency -
On September 6, 2018, the NSW Supreme Court held that a company (Company A) that used a contracted labor hire...more
10/19/2018
/ Australia ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
International Labor Laws ,
Medical Certification Requests ,
Paid Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Workplace Bullying ,
Workplace Injury
New South Whales Legislation to Combat Modern Slavery -
New Legislation Enacted -
On June 21, 2018, the New South Wales Parliament passed the Modern Slavery Act, requiring corporations to make efforts to eradicate...more
8/3/2018
/ Australia ,
Child Labor ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Forced Labor ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Slavery ,
Supply Chain ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Wage and Hour
The Australian State of New South Wales (NSW) recently passed the Modern Slavery Bill of 2018 (the “NSW Act”), which requires companies with employees in NSW and with an annual turnover of over AU $50 million to release an...more
The Australian Government has announced plans to release draft legislation proposing the introduction of a “modern slavery in supply chains” reporting requirement. ...more
2/7/2018
/ Australia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Forced Labor ,
Human Rights ,
Human Trafficking ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Disclosure ,
Supply Chain ,
Transparency