The Fair Work Commission has recently handed down a decision with respect to the status of casual employees in the retail, fast food, and hair and beauty industries. Casual employees in these industries approaching 12 months service (with an employer) may request to be converted to a permanent employee, and the employer must provide the employee with […]
by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild Ashley Duddington v Mario and Clara Enterprises Pty Ltd and Morgan Trading Pty Ltd [2017] FWC 2958 Small business employers (employing less than 15 employees) are reminded by a recent case before the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to use the Small Business Dismissal Code (the Code) when terminating employees. […]
by Sid Sidhu and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Teresa Margaret Murphy v Banana Coast Community Credit Union Ltd T/A BCU [2017] FWC 2688 An employee who worked as a store supervisor for Banana Coast Community Credit Union (BCU) has had her application for relief from unfair dismissal, dismissed by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The […]
Today, as the last order of business, Parliament will resume debate of the Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of 4 Yearly Review and Other Measures) Bill 2017 (Review Bill). With the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 (Vulnerable Workers Bill) attracting a lot of attention, the Review Bill has substantially flown under the radar. […]
The Fair Work Commission has made two important decisions affecting retailers in the last 24 hours, and it’s worth considering how commentators and elected officials respond to each one. The first issue, yesterday, was the Commission’s announcement on the timing of the adjustment of Sunday penalty rates. Your feedback to us has been that retailers […]
Small business owners will be worse off Retailers demand Parliament override Commission decision Marginal seats campaign to target MPS who accept Commission verdict Not really. In fact, the National Retail Association fully accepts the decision of the Fair Work Commission in relation to today’s 3.3 per cent increase in the minimum wage and Modern Awards, […]
In February the Fair Work Commission announced its decision to reduce Sunday penalty rates in the Hospitality, Fast Food, Retail and Pharmacy awards. At 2pm today the Commission handed down its decision on how these changes will be implemented. Fast Food Industry Award 2010 Only Level 1 employees are affected by the Sunday penalty rates […]
by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA legal Case study: Laura Wrzoskiewicz v Easy Payroll Perth Pty Ltd [2017] FWC 2469 A recent case before the Fair Work Commission highlights the meaning of “genuine redundancy” and when an employee will be unable to substantiate an unfair dismissal claim. In this case, a payroll officer who […]
Written by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal On 24 April 2017 the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission awarded compensation to a State employee who had been fired after pornographic emails, including images of naked children, were found in her work email account. The employer argued that the employee had committed multiple breaches […]
by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal As a business, there is a great temptation that when faced with litigation to stick with what you know. Doubtless you will have engaged external lawyers before. Maybe they helped get the lease of your shop up and running, maybe they advised on your corporate structure, but […]
Written by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal After rigorous action by the Shop, Distributive and Applied Employees Association (SDA), bakery chain Beechworth Bakery has had the approval of its enterprise bargaining agreement in December 2016 overturned by a decision of the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission. Throughout the approval process Deputy President […]
It certainly has been an exciting year so far in workplace relations, and there are a number of items that cannot go unnoticed and should not go unnoticed by our membership. In the last sitting week of federal parliament for March 2017, the Senate voted to block the Fair Work Commission’s decision to reduce Sunday […]
This week saw the successful launch of the National Retail Association’s State of the Retail Nation forums, proudly sponsored by REST Industry Super. Retailers from across multiple sectors met to hear from industry professionals and to share insight at breakfast briefings in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, plus an online webinar. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb led the […]
In everything that your association does for the retail industry, we have the interests of our members, and all retailers, as our top priority. This has been particularly true throughout the Fair Work Commission hearings in relation to Sunday penalty rates, and it remains true as that issue continues towards its conclusion. First we listen […]
MEDIA RELEASE The National Retail Association (NRA) has warned that Labor’s private members bill, introduced to parliament today to block the Fair Work Commission’s reduction in Sunday penalty rates, sets a dangerous precedent for all independent ruling bodies across the nation. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said that leveraging political interests to undermine the independence of […]
This week, the Federal Opposition has indicated it will move a private members bill to retrospectively legislate against any cuts to penalty rates, after the independent Fair Work Commission’s ruling of a reduction in five out of the 122 modern awards. While it was an entirely independent decision, made by a Commission who thoroughly examined […]
A fortnight on from the penalty rates decision, the accompanying discourse seems to be taking on a life of its own, and devaluing the lengthy and carefully-considered processes behind the decision from the Fair Work Commission. I’ve been particularly saddened to see this independent decision politicised and brandished as a weapon in the gender equality debate […]
The NRA is dedicated to keeping members informed of any changes that are likely to affect their businesses following the recent penalty rates decision made by the Fair Work Commission. The changes to public holiday penalty rates will take effect on 1 July 2017 and the variation of the early morning and late night loadings […]
MEDIA RELEASE March 6, 2017 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has today released its retail trade figures for January 2017, which demonstrate a solid increase of 3.2 per cent on the January 2016 figures. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said the figures represented a promising sign to the start of 2017 for retail. But Ms […]
Last week, the NRA was concerned to hear the Federal Government announce that they would be cracking down on so-called ‘dodgy franchisees’ through the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017, which currently sits before the federal parliament. The legislation seeks to make franchisors more responsible for underpayment of employees by franchisees and in […]