Employment

February 3, 2015

Protecting Against Employees Taking Clients – In the Digital Age

It’s what all employers dread – the prospect of an employee leaving to work with a competitor and taking with them all the valuable business contacts. Now in the digital age, with social sites like LinkedIn becoming so prevalent, it’s become easier than ever for employees to leave employment with access to all those relationships. […]

January 4, 2015

Director Held Personally Liable for Sham Contracting Penalties

In the case of Fair Work Ombudsman v Jooine (Investment) Pty Ltd & Anor [2013] FCCA 2144 the Fair Work Ombudsman successfully prosecuted a company and its director for breach of the sham contracting provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FWA) resulting in fines of over $50,000 on the company and the director. [...]

January 4, 2015

$300,000 Penalty for Sham Contracting

In May this year, the Federal Circuit Court imposed a combined penalty of over $300,000 against Linkhill Pty Ltd, a company associated with the interests of Gary Morgan, the chairman of Roy Morgan Research in relation to the sham contracting of 10 workers in the construction industry between the period from 2007 to 2010.The court [...]

November 12, 2014

Paying the Price for Poor Documentation

We often hear from clients about their concerns as to how to properly approach dismissals. One of our key areas of advice is the importance of documentation. In this article we examine the approach of the Fair Work Commission to this area, by looking at an example of an unfair dismissal claim that was upheld on the basis [...]

November 12, 2014

Disorganisation Leads to $47,000 Fine

Sometimes it really doesn’t pay to be disorganised in business, particularly when you are dealing with our courts or regulatory authorities. A Melbourne gym and its former director learnt this the hard way* when the business and the former director together suffered total fines of $47,000 from the Fair Work Commission – acting as a [...]

September 14, 2014

“Workplace” Clarified by Sexual Harassment Case

In a recent decision, the Federal Court held that the term “a workplace” is broad and may include a range of venues and locations, depending upon the surrounding circumstances and the conduct of workplace participants. This case is a reminder to employees and employers of the need to keep professional and personal relationships separate. In [...]