COVID-19 and Workplace Laws
The New South Wales Government has amended the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW) to allow for greater flexibility for employers and employees to access leave during the COVID-19 crisis.
Thousands of small businesses across NSW which are struggling to cope with the COVID-19 shutdown will receive grants of up to
The
On
On the same day, the
On
ASIC has announced three temporary relief measures that will assist industry in providing consumers with affordable and timely advice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The notice period that employers are required to give employees of proposed changes to enterprise agreements has been reduced from seven days to a minimum one day.
Temporary legislation allows for the witnessing of legal documents to be conducted via video conferencing technology such as
The Fair Work Commission Rules 2013 have been amended to provide that it is voluntary for parties to advise the FWC that they are represented by a lawyer or paid agent, references to 'statutory declaration' are substituted for 'declaration', and the application process for approval of enterprise agreements is modified.
Safe Work Australia will develop 'nationally-consistent, industry-specific'
In the News
ASIC is examining whether
According to a report from
Following a boom in wind and solar power construction activity in 2018-19, employment in
Zoom has hired former Facebook security chief,
Department store Myer has rehired 2,000 staff members amid growing demand for goods online.
In the Courts
In the first significant pandemic-related dispute over massive lay-offs to come before the FWC, Auscript, the Federal Court's transcription service provider, has been criticised for making empty consultation promises and reminded to treat workers 'with dignity in this time of crisis'.
The FWC, in contrasting redundancy decisions delivered on the same day, has agreed to slash redundancy pay a small, pandemic-affected business must make to a worker, but has rejected another employer's bid to do the same for three of its former employees after raising the possibility of JobKeeper subsidies.
In a case examining whether the workplace right to make an inquiry extends to prospective employees, the Federal Court has acknowledged real difficulties in applying existing provisions of the FW Act to contract negotiations.
The FWC clarified how it deals with unresolved matters in which the applicant has died, by stating that as the applicant's death prevents the application from being either pursued or discontinued by another person, the application has no reasonable prospects of success and must be dismissed.
A full bench majority of the FWC held that
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of two hospital cleaners who spent 44% of their working time, excluding breaks, in a tea room, during their night shifts but has reprimanded the employer for its privacy-based arguments against handing over the video evidence to the employees to enable them to review it.
The FWC has refused to grant an extension of time to an unlawful termination application of a teacher allegedly forced into taking maternity leave, finding her confusion over the date of dismissal, a delay caused by filing the wrong claim and a difficult birth did not amount to exceptional circumstances.
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