As you may be aware, the new minimum wage rates apply from Tuesday, July 1 2014. Many employees without dedicated HR support may not be aware of this and as a result become at risk of underpaying wages to staff Signing up to HR Central includes our news and message service. This means you will never miss an important announcement when it comes to any changes to wages. Fair Work Website made the below announcement in regard to the news: “Since 2010, wages in awards have been gradually phasing from multiple state-based r

The inherent requirements of the role are the main area to consider in determining if an adjustment is reasonable in the context of an injured worker. Some key items that need to be taken into account include the job description, the actual tasks performed, and what is contained in the employee’s employment contract; Obtaining a medical opinion is essential if you are suggesting an employee cannot perform the inherent requirements of their role. This is because the impact of that decision is enormous on both you and the e

The importance of record keeping cannot be highlighted strongly enough.  The Fair Work Ombudsman recently made a note on their website with a further reminder about keeping accurate records. “Fair Work inspectors continue to see employers failing to keep correct records or issuing pay slips that contain the required information.” – HR Central is the ideal tool to ensure you are compliant and have all the right processes and procedures in place. .

A Sydney based cleaning company was first found to have underpaid its staff more than $18,000 after an audit in 2011. A follow-up audit in 2013 found additional former and current employees had also been underpaid more than $40,000. In one case, the underpayment was $3635 and in three other cases, more than $3000. The company decided to pay a flat rate for all hours worked which was a breach of the relevant Award that they fell under. As part of the process the Fair Work Ombudsman required an apology to all staff and recti

A café in Perth has been required to pay thousands of dollars in compensation after it was found to have been illegally deducting money from the wages of its employees. If you can comprehend this odd situation, on one occasion a female cook had $112 taken from her pay packet after her employer decided the crackling on a pork belly dish was “not crispy enough”. The most concerning fact in this matter was that the Employer believed it was “okay”. HR Central identifies these issues before they become Fair Work compla

In what is becoming an almost weekly occurrence, another large company is undergoing a self-audit due to issues that have arisen around the payment of wages. A Western Australian chicken outlet will have the wages of all past and present employees reviewed. The aim is to determine if they are being paid under the correct Award, classifications and are receiving the right payments. This all came about because of an audit by fair work inspectors – not because employees made a complaint. We often talk about the inspectors a

Below is a great example of the possible consequences a business may face if allegations of underpayment of wages or other breaches are lodged against them. In this case the Fair Work Ombudsman took legal proceedings against the former operator of a petrol station alleging two console operators were underpaid a total of almost $50,000. The company allegedly owed the employees amounts of $25,621 and $21,637. These amounts accumulated between 2008 and 2013. It is expected that there will be difficulty in demonstrating compli

The criticality of properly inducting employees in all facets of your business has been reinforced in a recent Court case. In the case, the Court ruled that an Employer was not liable for a workplace injury of an employee due to the employee’s failure to comply with the manual handling training they had been provided with. The employee had been shown how to move certain bags via manual handling training. However when actually moving the bags he decided to kick them instead seriously injuring his foot in the process. The

A recent OHS decision has reinforced the need to act as soon as you become aware of any concerns over safety. This is to prevent any incident or accident occurring by doing whatever is reasonably practicable. In this instance, the company received a number of reports concerning grates becoming dislodged, stating that they were likely to cause an individual to fall through. This showed that the company was fully aware of both the issue and the possible consequences. The company took some action in fixing a portion of t

The amount of overtime considered reasonable can also be a difficult issue in the workplace. This was the case with Australia Post who disciplined two employees for unsatisfactory performance during the “indoor” portion of their shifts The employees appealed the warning and the Commissioner accepted their evidence that they had both advised depot managers they could work no more than an hour of overtime on November 2, 2012.They had also followed Australia Post’s instructions in returning undelivered mail to their ma