HR Central

Can a resignation not be a resignation? Just last week I was involved in a situation surrounding whether a verbal resignation given in a heated argument between an employer and employee should be treated as a bona fide resignation. My advice was and always is that in cases where a resignation has been delivered verbally in an argument or blow up, employers should allow what we call “a cooling off period", then seek written confirmation of the resignation within a reasonable time period. There is no specific time but i

The term "adverse action" is becoming much more common in regards to workplace rights. The simple definition of it is if and employer takes action against an employee for exercising a workplace right or proposing to express that workplace right. A prime example of this is where a company took unlawful adverse action when it stopped giving shifts to a casual bartender who complained of being underpaid. After notifying management that he had not been paid the award rates due to him, he started to have his shifts reduced.

With Health and Safety week starting in Victoria on Monday 20 October 2014, it is probably a timely reminder to ask ourselves the following:

• Have I done everything that is reasonable & practicable to maintain a healthy and safe work environment?
• Have I completed the OHS checklist?
• Have I made sure all first aid kits are fully stocked?

It is very easy for our day to day operations to get in the way of OHS requirements. Unfortunately, this can lead to potential hazards, incidents

In a recent case where an existing business was taken over, the new employer assumed the rates of pay were accurate and as a result didn't take any steps to investigate what their employees should be getting paid on a ongoing basis. As a result the new business had to back-pay a former employee almost $20,000 in outstanding wages. This is because the moment the business changed hands the new owners became responsible for ensuring the correct workplace entitlements for their employees. Without a system in place to monit

Today we start with an interesting statement from a Federal Court Judge regarding whether a worker within a company was classed as an employee or independent contractor. "The parties cannot create something which has every feature of a rooster but call it a duck and insist that everyone else recognise it as a duck." What this statement suggests is that an independent contractor who looks like an employee or is treated like employee, may well be considered an employee and despite what you call the person, they may be inc

The ACTU is seeking to create a clause giving more than two million casual workers the right to become permanent employees. This is aimed at what the ACTU call "permanent in everything but name, not genuine casuals such as students who work irregular hours in bars or restaurants, but those people genuinely working permanent hours and deserve to have that recognised". It is has been argued for a long times that casuals are disadvantaged by having insecure jobs. This makes it harder to get loans, rent a house or access train

A recent sexual harassment claim to the Equal Opportunity Tribunal of South Australia by a magistrates clerk against a former magistrate shows that cases of sexual harassment can be difficult to define. The allegations made by the the female clerk centred around incidents that occurred while she and the magistrate were travelling. They included:

• inviting her to eat lunch and dinner with him
• inviting her to come to his room for drinks after dinner
• inviting her to swim in the hotel pool in her

Can I pay out or cash out annual leave rather than have the person take leave? This is a common question asked, particularly for those companies with long serving employees. While it can seem an attractive prospect to keep your leave debt low, it is important to know that it is not a simple Yes or No answer. The first thing you must investigate is whether your employee falls under an Award or Agreement. Then you need to find out if that Award or Agreement allows you to pay out or cash out annual leave. If it is allowed, yo

I was fortunate enough to to attend an AHRI HR seminar on workplace bullying and hear some of the latest ways companies are approaching this delicate topic. What struck me the most was that many companies were still trying to work out the best way to deal with allegations that have arisen since the legislation started. The general consensus was that very few cases ended up as "win-win" or even "lose-win". Most seemed to be leaning towards the field of "lose-lose". That is, neither the person making the complaint nor th

So many companies are not aware of just how much power and influence is afforded to the Fair Work Ombudsman. If you don't comply with a Fair Work Order, it is very likely the Fair Work Ombudsman will take the matter further and your company may face significantly higher costs and penalties. A recent case involving the disregard of a Fair Work Order landed both the company and its direct in the Federal Court. The original order was to pay $2,200 in compensation to an unfairly dismissed employee who took their case�