Federal Court throws casual employment into a tailspin

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal In a decision handed down on 16 August 2018, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has thrown casual employment, and the efficacy of its use, into a tailspin. In a case which is likely to be appealed to the High Court by the employer, […]

Additional Obligations when Making Redundancies

By Sid Sidhu, Workplace Relations Advisor, and Emma Treherne, Principal Workplace Relations Advisor, NRA Legal Are you aware of your obligations when making 15 or more staff redundant? Employers looking to dismiss 15 or more employees by way of redundancy are required to carry out additional obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Prior […]

Fixed-term employment contracts – Beware of the unfair dismissal risk

By Alex Millman and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd [2017] FWCFB 5162 Members will recall that earlier this year the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission foreshadowed that it would re-evaluate how the Commission approached fixed-term contracts in unfair dismissal cases, namely whether a contract ‘expiring’ meant that the […]

Things you need to know when employing young workers this Christmas

With consumers gearing up to spend big over the Christmas period and summer holidays, retailers are busy preparing themselves and employing young workers to assist over the coming weeks. But are you aware of the laws around young workers? It is certainly not the case that you can pay your young employees at trainee rates, […]

The crackdown on retailers and restaurants has begun

Retailers and restaurants targeted for underpayments and false records with massive fines Written by Sid Sidhu and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal The crackdown on retailers, fast food stores and restaurants avoiding their obligations has well and truly begun. As predicted, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has increased its auditing activity and successfully obtained significant fines […]

Franchise Privacy

FRANCHISORS – CAN YOU ACCESS YOUR FRANCHISEE’S EMPLOYMENT RECORDS TO CONDUCT FAIR WORK COMPLIANCE AUDITS? With the recent amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to protect vulnerable workers, many franchisors are considering what they can do to protect themselves from liability for contraventions to the Fair Work Act by their franchisees. A key […]

Penalised for the best of intentions

Protect yourself from costly mistakes by getting professional advice By Alex Millman and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal A mistake in handling an employee’s redundancy around the same time as the commencement of her maternity leave has cost an employer $57,842.99 in compensation and penalties. The court found that had the manager consulted with the company’s […]

NRA are standing up for retail and fast food in the Penalty Rates Case

By Alex Millman and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal The union challenge to the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates in the retail, fast food and hospitality sectors wrapped up yesterday, with the Federal Court reserving its decision to be handed down at a later date. With five judges, approximately a dozen barristers, and […]

Fair Work Inspectors conduct surprise on-site audits in Melbourne

NRA Legal Once again, the Fair Work Ombudsman (‘FWO’) has demonstrated its broad powers to conduct on-site audits, this time in Melbourne’s entertainment hot spots including Carlton, Brunswick and Fitzroy North. In a reprise of similar events in Sydney’s South-West and Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley earlier this year, the FWO has sent inspectors to more than […]

End of contract means no dismissal? Maybe not …

By Alex Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd T/A Navitas English [2017] FWCFB 4092 The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has granted a teacher leave to appeal against the decision dismissing his unfair dismissal application, challenging long-established precedent claiming that his employment was not truly brought to […]

‘Deliberately ignoring’ Ombudsman warnings results in record penalty

By Alexander Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal  FWO v MHoney Pty Ltd & Anor [2016] FCCA 2959 In November last year, Judge Burchardt of the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne found that MHoney Pty Ltd and its director, Mr Abdulrahman Taleb, had deliberately engaged in multiple serious and deliberate contraventions of the Fair Work […]

Employment law legislation update

Written by Alex Millman Members will recall from previous news alerts that there are several pieces of legislation amending the Fair Work Act currently waiting for the attention of the Senate before they can become law. Foremost among these is the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017, which aims to make franchisors and […]

Dismissal of pregnant worker deemed adverse action

paid-parental-leave

by Angela Szczepanski and Sid Sidhu, NRA Legal Mahajan v Burgess Rawson & Associates Pty Ltd [2017] FCCA 1560 The Federal Circuit Court has ruled in favour of an employee after hearing that her commercial real estate employer, Burgess Rawson and Associates Pty Ltd, had dismissed the pregnant worker for taking time off to manage […]

VW Bill to go before Parliament

The Government has announced that it intends to bring the Vulnerable Workers Bill (the Bill) before Parliament in the final sitting of the financial year before going on its winter break. The Bill was passed by the House of Representatives on 11 May 2017. It is now pending approval by the Senate. Typically, Parliament House […]

The rise of affordable employee advocacy has changed the playing field

law legal court

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 […]

Employer fined $72,000 for exploiting international student

Written by Ben Desir and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Jia Ning Wang, owner and operator of the Fire and Stone Restaurant, has been received a $20,366 penalty, and his company Golden Vision Food and Beverage Services Pty Ltd has been penalised an additional $51,830 after it was found that he deliberately exploited young international students. […]

FWO blitz targets Ballarat without warning

NRA Legal employment law

by Victoria Hansen, Lawyer, NRA Legal The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) deployed an unannounced campaign in Ballarat this week to address concerns regarding potential non-compliance with Commonwealth workplace laws. The FWO campaign had a particular focus on businesses in the retail, fast food and hospitality industries and conducted more than 50 visits to retail businesses, cafes, […]