Latest thinking

Thinking| 11 Oct 2019

Unions in disciplinary meetings: your practical guide

You’ve asked your employee to attend a disciplinary meeting, and they show up with a union official. What should you do next? The presence of union officials in disciplinary meetings can feel like a legal minefield for employers. In this practical guide, we’ll take a look at the differences between a support person and a union representative, and share tips on complying with your legal obligations.

Thinking| 08 Oct 2019

Changes to long service leave in Victoria for employers in community, cleaning and security industries

Employees in Victoria are entitled to take long service leave (LSL) after 7 years of continuous employment with one employer. LSL accrues at a rate of one week for every 60 weeks of continuous employment, and applies to full time, part time, casual and seasonal employees, apprentices and trainees (workers). However, from 1 July 2019, […]

Thinking| 15 Sep 2019

Industrial Manslaughter in WA

Thinking| 15 Sep 2019

District Court chips away at discretion for clinical judgement

The District Court of Western Australia has found in favour of patient Sandy Lazarevski and held that the defendant North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS) breached its duty of care by failing to administer a standard blood test and detect an eventuating heart attack despite finding that the possibility of a heart attack on the patient’s […]

Thinking| 12 Sep 2019

Fair Work Commission finds dismissal following Facebook tirade to be harsh

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has once again considered the persistent challenges raised by an employee’s use of social media outside work. The recent decision of the FWC decided that it was harsh for alarm and surveillance monitoring provider Staysafe Security t/as Alarmnet Monitoring (Alarmnet) to terminate long-term employee Creina Murkitt after she was found […]