Written by Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal According to recent analysis by global job search platform Indeed, 67% of Christmas job opportunities in Australia are created in the retail sector to help serve the Christmas shopping frenzy. Last year, Australians spent in excess of $26 billion during the month of December which would […]
Written by Victoria Hansen, Senior Workplace Advisor, and Lindsay Carroll, Legal Practice Director In a decision made last week, the Fair Work Commission terminated the collective agreement of a yoghurt shop chain that had been in operation for nearly 14 years. This decision highlights how much of an impact termination of an old instrument can […]
By Lindsay Carroll, Director and Sid Sidhu, Workplace Relations Advisor, NRA Legal Earlier in 2017, the Fair Work Commission (‘FWC’) determined that the City of Sydney RSL and Community Club had constructively dismissed a casual employee, when it denied the employee from working further “change box” shifts and reduced her average weekly hours by 75 […]
The following article is posted here for NRA members who operate in New Zealand. The article was originally published by NRA Partner, Positive People. This year New Zealand retailers are expecting to see a significant shift in the employment legislation landscape, and recent announcements signal the start of these changes. The following changes have been confirmed: Trial […]
If you’ve been following our Modern Award Series, you should by now be certain when a Modern Award will cover your employees, what Modern Award applies and how your employees will be classified under an applicable Modern Award. Following on from Part 3 of this series, it will be necessary to consider in what capacity […]
As you would have seen in Part 1 of our Modern Award Series ‘How to work out which modern awards apply in your business?’, it can be quite confusing working out which award has coverage over a business in the ‘food services’ industry: From the diagram above, you can see there are five different modern […]
Part 1 of our Modern Award Series – How to work out which modern awards apply in your business By Alex Millman and Emma Treherne, NRA Legal With 122 modern awards covering most industries, it can sometimes be a mind-boggling exercise to work out which one applies to your business. The problem is, you can’t […]
The NRA has compiled a fact sheet on the public holidays and trading hour restrictions for each State and Territory over this year’s Easter and ANZAC Day period. Are you aware of what public holiday entitlements apply to your employees? Are your employees obligated to work on public holidays? Do you know what you must pay […]
By Sid Sidhu, Workplace Relations Advisor, and Emma Treherne, Principal Workplace Relations Advisor, NRA Legal If my casual employees are not guaranteed hours, can I reduce their shifts? Often employers believe that they can reduce the hours provided to a casual employee if they are, or have been, causing issues within the business. Recent case […]
SkillsIQ is conducting a national survey to look at workforce and skills issues and gain your feedback. All stakeholders are encouraged to complete the survey and have your say. The data collected will be collated and provided to the relevant Industry Reference Committees (IRCs) and used to inform the development of the 2018 Industry Skills […]
In July 2017, the Fair Work Commission determined that the: Fast Food Industry Award 2010; General Retail Industry Award 2010; Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2010; Restaurant Industry Award 2010; would be varied to extend overtime loadings to casual employees, not just permanent employees. On Friday 24 November 2017, the Commission decided that this entitlement […]
Boxing Day trade continues in NSW The NSW Government today announced it will legislate to allow Boxing Day trade to continue in all parts of NSW, in accordance with the findings of an independent review by Professor Percy Allan AM which considered feedback from retailers, employees and shoppers. NRA will update retailers on the implication […]
By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Since the Fair Work Act appeared on the scene in 2009, the legal environment around employment law has shifted dramatically. Any person can be represented before the Fair Work Commission by a person acting as a ‘paid agent’. Whilst this is nothing new, the employee advocacy industry […]
By Ben Desir and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Our Queensland and New South Wales members are taking stock after being lashed by Cyclone Debbie last week, with many still experiencing the aftermath with flooding and lack of power. When a natural disaster strikes, safety is the ultimate priority and other factors take a backseat. For […]
by Ben Desir, Workplace Advisor, NRA Legal How did you do? Did you manage the mad dash for last minute Christmas gifts? Chances are you brought on a number of casual members of staff to help deal with the Christmas rush. It’s also likely that a few of these casuals really stepped up to the […]
IMAGE The National Retail Association has succeeded in its application for a one-off exemption for major stores in regional Queensland to trade on the Boxing Day public holiday this year. In a judgement released today, the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission ordered that stores may trade between 8am and 5pm on the official boxing day holiday. […]
Embroiled convenience chain 7-Eleven has reacted to new claims of worker exploitation after revelations that the Fair Work Ombudsman is considering further legal action. While 7 Eleven has made efforts to change, including adapting its business model, changes to senior management and setting up compensation schemes to underpaid workers, new evidence has emerged that workers […]
There’s a lot of paperwork to complete when you hire new employees. The ATO have listened to you and developed a fillable TFN declaration form which is available on the ATO website. You no longer need to order the form and wait for it to be mailed to you. Just download it from the ATO […]
When my husband and I took over Peter Baker-Finch in 1999 the company was already a member of the National Retail Association (NRA). There was never any question of not continuing the membership, as in our early days of running the store, NRA proved to be an extremely helpful resource. NRA provides me with updates […]
Flexible work arrangements are no longer just for new parents as more employees are demanding the ability to work from home or have the option of flexible hours. Millennials are leading the charge and older generations are taking note. Flexible work arrangements encourage existing employees to stay, entice new talent to your business and generally […]