Almost $100,000 back-paid to workers in Melbourne’s South and South-Eastern suburbs Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says the underpayments should serve to remind all employers about how important it is for them to take the time to ensure they are aware of the minimum pay rates applicable to their staff. “A small mistake left over time can easily result in a hefty bill for back-payment of wages – so it is important employers get it right in the first place,” she said. Recent recoveries include: <
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OHS – Working from home

Working from home is a common practice, so it is important that employers understand that occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers compensation obligations that apply in the workplace also apply. Creating and maintaining a safe and productive work environment is important wherever work is done and the employer’s responsibilities do not change when employees work from home. You, as an employer is legally required to do all that is reasonably practicable to ensure a safe and healthy workplace – so you should di
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Pay rates – Easter

Check Easter pay rates ahead of the holidays Employers are urged to check the pay rates and entitlements that apply over the upcoming Easter public holidays. As a business -  it's important you are aware of the public holidays and any penalty rates that apply. Good Friday (April 3) and Easter Monday (April 6) are national public holidays and specifically for Victoria  Saturday (4 April) and  Easter Sunday (5th April) are also Public Holidays.
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OHS – What to look for in an inspection March 2015

Outlined below are just some of the key areas you or your supervisors should be reviewing and taking note of when you conduct an OHS inspections. You should have your own checklist so this is a good set of areas to overlay and compare to what you are using currently and make any adjustment you might need to:
  • work practices
  • emergency evacuation plan
  • hazardous materials
  • machines
  • signs/posters
  • plant and equipment
  • physical structure/building site it
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Policies & Code of Conduct

You may have seen the article last week re Cotton On's code of conduct which requires employees to uphold the company's values in their interactions with staff and customers, or face disciplinary action, including counselling, warnings and instant dismissal. This included, among other things, "keeping it real". The key issue is – how do you measure/enforce a standard that appears somewhat ambiguous? The message for employers is their policies and codes of conduct must not use a lot of jargon, buzz words or ambiguous lan
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We have stated all along the need to conduct investigations in a procedural, fair way. And here is another example that has only served to reinforce this position. In this recent case, Fair Work Commission stated an employer cannot claim to have fairly investigated an employee's alleged misconduct if they fail to interview them. The company argued its disciplinary procedures didn't require it to conduct an interview. But Fair Work Commissioner stated while the disciplinary processes did not "explicitly state" that an emp
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We have previously spoken about the need to conduct workplace risk assessments as a means of identifying risks within the workplace and then utilizing the hierarchy of controls to mitigate and hopefully eliminate  those risks. The reason for the refresher is a recent case which demonstrates as an employer action can & will be taken against you for breaches of OHS acts. A manager of a company had inspected a work site before a task was undertaken and
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More than two dozen apprentice bakers, baker’s assistants and bakery shop assistants – over half of them aged under 21 – have been reimbursed almost $40,000 after the Fair Work Ombudsman found they were being underpaid. The workers were underpaid their minimum hourly rates of pay, casual loadings, weekend and public holiday penalty rates and shift allowances. The individual underpayments ranged from $104 to $3672. Three staff were underpaid by more than $3000, four by more than $2000 and seven by more than $1000. T
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Employee Relations – Termination

A Fair Work Commission has determined a company had a valid reason for sacking its Sales Manager for (1) poor sales figures and (2) post-employment discovery of pornographic images on his mobile phone. However, as we read so often "substantial" procedural deficiencies made it unfair. These included: -          No documented warnings about the employee’s performance -          No opportunity to improve -          No opportunity for the employee to defend themselves -          S
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Out of Work Behaviour Deemed Unacceptable

The Fair Work Commission has ruled the dismissal of an employee not unfair for groping a bartender while staying at a hotel which was paid for by his employer. The employer regularly used the hotel for work and the employee had been warned after he had caused damage to a hotel room that any further misconduct which brought the company into disrepute would likely lead to dismissal. Note, the employee was only in the bar  as he was attending a training course due to his current employment with the company. Critically,
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