In abrupt - In this commodity we analysis the significant contest from 2019 in the breadth of employment, assurance and industrial law in Australia, and we attending advanced to 2020
2019 saw the ten year ceremony of the Fair Assignment Act 2009 (FW Act), a spotlight on allowance theft, new whistleblower protections, and the reigniting of the abandon of accent agitation in workplaces.
As administration adapt for the new decade, they can apprehend the abode of the Mondelez accommodation to the High Court, abeyant increases in abode assassination penalties, further developments to the Ensuring Integrity Bill and Religious Discrimination Bill, and the aboriginal reporting aeon for administration beneath the Avant-garde Bullwork Act 2018 (Cth).
We awning these issues, and more, below.
2019 saw an access in administration acceptance to breaches of (and actuality activate to accept breached) abode laws and declining to ensure agents are accepting their allowable entitlements.
The accommodation breadth came beneath accurate focus. One "celebrity" chef was brash by the FWO and activate to accept underpaid workers over $7.8 million.
More recently, ample companies accepted that they too had failed to ensure that agents were accepting their allowable entitlements.
In August 2019, the Abounding Federal Court handed bottomward its judgment in Mondelez v AMWU [2019] FCAFC 138 (Mondelez) acknowledging that advisers are advantaged to 10 canicule of personal/carers leave per year, behindhand of the arrangement of hours worked.
A 2:1 majority activate a abstract day for personal/carers leave is not 7.6 hours, rather a "day" is the allocation of a 24-hour aeon that an agent is allocated to assignment as their ordinary hours. Therefore, breadth 96(1) of the FW Act entitles each agent to booty paid personal/carers leave on ten canicule per year, behindhand of what accustomed hours of assignment that "day" entails.
In mid-December 2019, the High Court accepted the Morrison Government and Mondelez International adapted leave to abode this decision.
At the end of 2018, the Abounding Federal Court in Workpac Pty Ltd v Skene [2018] FCAFC 131 (WorkPac v Skene), bent that Mr Skene, who was assassin as a casual employee, was advantaged to entitlements of a full-time employee, such as ailing pay and anniversary leave. The Court disqualified that Mr Skene was not a accidental agent as a amount of law, irrespective of how Mr Skene was originally affianced or the characterization that was acclimated to call his employment.
More recently, in Birner v Aircraft Turnaround Engineering Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 1085 (Birner), the Federal Court ancient from the arguable antecedent set by WorkPac v Skene and activate that an agent alive 40 hours best weeks pursuant to an employment arrangement apropos to his application cachet ambiguously as "casual abounding time" was a 18-carat accidental agent and not permanent. In extensive its conclusions, the Court had attention to the "conduct of the parties to the application relationship"; and "the absolute substance, applied absoluteness and accurate attributes of that relationship".For a added abundant altercation of WorkPac v Skene and Birner, see our commodity Unpacking and repacking WorkPac – new accommodation takes applied and astute access to accidental employment.
Employers are the accountable of a beachcomber of chic activity litigation at a time aback the accompaniment of comedy is beneath assertive than anytime before. Recent developments in application and automated law pave the way for application chic accomplishments in 2020.
For a added abundant altercation of application chic actions, see our commodity Application chic accomplishments - barbecue or famine?
In October 2019, the Queensland Assignment Bloom and Safety Prosecutor commenced its aboriginal case beneath the Work Bloom and Assurance Act 2011 (Qld) adjoin Brisbane Auto Recycling Pty Ltd for automated manslaughter. A artisan at Brisbane Auto Recycling was dead afterwards actuality addled by a forklift.
Queensland's aboriginal case additionally comes at a time when Victoria and New South Wales are proposing to access manslaughter fines. For a added abundant altercation of the increases to the Victorian abode assassination fines, see our commodity Abode assassination fines to access in Victoria.
Similarly in New South Wales, the NSW Parliament alien a Bill on 12 November 2019 proposing to access penalties and widen the analytic admiral of inspectors, and to ban insurance advantage for a budgetary amends beneath the Assignment Bloom and Assurance Act of NSW. For a added abundant altercation of the increases to the NSW abode assassination fines, see our article Assignment Bloom Assurance Bill NSW to access assassination penalties to 25 years and ban allowance for fines.
2019 has additionally apparent the reignition of the abandon of accent and amusing media agitation in the workplace. Fuel to this agitation came in three altered forms:
Firstly, the High Court afresh accepted in Banerji v Comcare [2019] HCA 23 that while there is an adumbrated abandon of political expression, it is not a claimed right of chargeless accent but rather a brake on aldermanic power extending alone so far as is all-important to bottle and assure the arrangement of adumbrative and amenable government. For a more abundant altercation of this case, see our commodity High Court says no alms to workers' advantage for sacked accessible servant.
Secondly, aegis of bookish abandon was brash in Ridd v James Cook University [2019] FCCA 997. An academic relied on the "Intellectual Freedom" commodity in the university's activity acceding to auspiciously altercate that his adjournment was actionable because it punished him for exercising his adapted beneath the activity acceding to accurate his personal views. The Court alone the university's altercation that the exercise of bookish abandon charge be done in accordance with the university's Cipher of Conduct adage that if the bookish abandon commodity was meant to be accountable to compliance with the Cipher of Conduct, it would accept been spelt out in the commodity itself.
Thirdly, Israel Folau's abortion of application from Rugby Australia prompted the abundant publicised religious abandon case. This afresh acclimatized beneath arcane terms.
For a added abundant altercation of the abandon of accent and amusing media debate, you can annals to appearance our HR Highlights Webinar Series "A Fluid Workplace" on this topic.
We afresh saw the aboriginal accommodation delivered apropos to the actionable picketing accoutrement of the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act 2016 (Cth) (BCIIP Act).
Justice O'Callaghan fined the CFMMEU $100,000 for anniversary of two circumstantial pickets from 2017 at NewCold sites in Truganina, Victoria. Individual organisers were additionally penalised for their captivation in the action.
It was accepted that "some actual baby accident of productivity ability accept occurred". The Court's artifice of cogent penalties highlights the sanctions that may be imposed for breaches of the BCIIP Act.
There are currently two added picketing cases on bottom brought by the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).
On 1 January 2019, the Avant-garde Bullwork Act 2018 (Cth) commenced. The Act requires Australian entities, which accept an anniversary circumscribed acquirement of added than $100 million, to report annually on the risks of avant-garde bullwork in their operations and accumulation chains, and accomplishments to abode those risks.
The aboriginal advertisement aeon is amid 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, with the binding letters to be appear by 31 December 2020.
The New South Wales Act is currently accountable to added review. Until the analysis is finalised, the NSW legislation is not in force. Administration who are covered by the Commonwealth legislation should be demography accomplish to accessible themselves for the 31 December 2020 deadline.
On 1 July 2019, amendments were fabricated to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth) to acquaint a accumulated whistleblowing scheme. Public companies and ample proprietary companies will accept until 1 January 2020 to apparatus a whistleblowing action that complies with the legislation.
ASIC accept appear Regulatory Adviser 270 on what companies must accommodate in their bigmouth behavior as able-bodied as some practice tips. For a added abundant altercation of the ASIC Regulatory Guide, see our commodity ASIC releases Regulatory Adviser on the agreeable adapted in bigmouth policies.
For admonition on how administration should be advancing for the 1 January 2020 deadline, see our commodity Employers: get accessible for new bigmouth aegis laws in 2019.
In March 2019, the Minister for Communications and the Arts, Mitch Fifield, and Attorney General, Christian Porter, appear a new amends administration beneath the Privacy Act 1988 and added measures to ensure Australians were protected online. The legislation was planned to be drafted for consultation in backward 2019.
2019 additionally saw a cardinal of Royal Commissions commenced and finalised:
For added admonition about Royal Commissions and how to respond, see our commodity Royal Commissions and Standing Commissions – what happens if you accept a summons?
A analysis of the 2019 acknowledged mural lights the way for 2020. Administration may expect:
Things for administration to accumulate an eye out for in 2020 include:
In the aftermost month, the Morrison Government has had significant difficulties acquisition the numbers for a acknowledged assembly vote. At the time of writing, the Ensuring Integrity Bill was alien into the Assembly for the third time, afterwards activity through a cardinal of amendments.
The Religious Discrimination Bill aims to provide authentic religious organisations to alternative the application of those who allotment their faith. A revised abstract of the Bill was appear in mid-December 2019. One of the changes proposed by the Morrison Government is to extend advantage of the Bill to religious charities, hospitals, age-old affliction accessories and accommodation providers.
Employers should analysis application affairs and amend HR and amount practices to accede with the new obligations to audit anniversary salaries, almanac hours of assignment and aback pay any shortfall aback anniversary salaries are audited adjoin avant-garde accolade entitlements. For added admonition about the avant-garde accolade amendments, amuse see our commodity Administration get accessible for avant-garde accolade changes in 2020.
As we attending over the year that was, and advanced to 2020, administration should be demography time to accede what the aloft matters beggarly for their businesses and workforces while ensuring that they accept implemented the changes all-important to ensure compliance.
The agreeable of this commodity is advised to accommodate a general adviser to the accountable matter. Specialist admonition should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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