A recent decision of the Appellate Division of the Federal Court of Australia has recently decided to award over $6 million dollars in damages to an ex-employer in relation to the misuse of its confidential information by two former employees. What is most interesting about this decision is the fact that the order was imposed on the new employer who had benefited from the breach. The decision illustrates that in circumstances where a new employer turns a blind eye to the wrongdoing of its new employees, it may find itself embroiled in costly litigation with possible significant financial consequences.
The ability to attract and retain talented staff greatly benefits an organisation’s ability to sustain a competitive advantage. The loss of a key employee can have a significantnegative impact the business. Remuneration plays an important factor in the attraction, engagement, motivation and retention of employees. Employers need to be well aware of their obligations surrounding this sensitive subject as well as considering what, in addition to salary, their organisation may offer an employee to improve engagement and motivation within their business.
The incidence of domestic violence appears to be on the increase and it is now a much discussed social issue in Australia. The statistics regarding domestic violence in Australia are horrifying – one in six women, and one in 20 men, have experienced violence from a current or former partner since the age of 15. Just in the last week there were two instances of serious injury from domestic violence reported by mainstream media.
Fair Work Ombudsman Warning to Employers
The Australian Government has consistently signalled that it intends to ensure companies who do not pay their employees properly or who have breached the workplace laws will face significant penalties. Given the numerous high profile cases in which employee have been underpaid by their employer including companies such as 7Eleven, and Dominos, this has become an important issue for both the Australian Government and the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Surprising as it may seem, a Western Australian Court has accepted that a 10 year restraint may in fact be enforceable. An engineer with highly specialised skills has temporarily been barred from working with any competitors in Western Australia after the Western Australia Supreme Court determined that a 10 year restraint clause was reasonable, at least until the Court has the benefit of having a full hearing into the matter.
The Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) handed down a landmark decision yesterday regarding the payment of penalty rates that may have far reaching consequences for many employees and their employers.
As part of the 4-yearly review of modern awards under section 156 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“FWA”) the Fair Work Commission has reviewed penalty rates in a number of modern awards in the hospitality, retail and pharmaceutical industries.
In NSW, each year approximately 200,000 potential jurors are randomly selected from the NSW Electoral Roll and included on a jury list. Approximately 150,000 of these people are sent a jury summons notice at some point in the year. This notice will require them to attend Court where they may be selected as a juror for a specific trial.
Happy 2017! The start of a new year is usually a time many of us reflect on what we would like to achieve in our personal lives in the year to come. However, many of us don’t take the time to reflect on our work or professional lives in the same way. With the new year in full swing, we thought now was a perfect opportunity to consider some of the leading themes emerging in the employment law arena already this year, with a view to discussing some of the steps you can take to ensure your business stays on the right track.
Most employees will deal with some sort of confidential information belonging to their employer, during the course of their employment. Confidential information may include client or supplier lists, price information, strategic business plans, databases, details of tenders, inventions or product information and so on. As a result, employers are increasingly concerned that they protect their confidential information from misuse by employees and especially departing employees. In this article, we look at how employers can safeguard themselves from employees misusing confidential information and discuss a recent Federal Court of Australia decision on this key issue.
On Wednesday and Thursday last week Shana Schreier-Joffe of our office was invited to attended and present at the Global Mobility and Skills Forum in Adelaide. This was an international conference designed to explore the challenges facing business in dealing with skill acquisition and an increasingly mobile workforce.
There were numerous very experienced and thought provoking speakers at the conference, however one of the speakers, Aaron LePoidevin made a number of comments that we think require further discussion and consideration.
According to a report released by the Senate Education and Employment References Committee entitled “A National Disgrace: The Exploitation of Temporary Work Visa Holders” dated 17 March 2016 there are approximately 1.4 million temporary visa holders working in Australia who are covered by the national Fair Work system. Startlingly, many visa holders experience a significant amount of employment mistreatment. The Fair Work Ombudsman, Natalie James, recently observed that migrant worker complaints of mistreatment have soared in recent years, and sponsorship breaches were often deliberate acts of exploitation by unscrupulous employers. Similarly, Professor Allan Fels of the newly appointed Federal Government Ministerial Taskforce (“the Taskforce”) established to protect migrant workers commented that the exploitation of migrant workers in Australia was “systemic” and “deeply embedded in the practices of some businesses”.
It is no secret that the composition of Australia’s population is much older today than it has been in the past, and both the number and proportion of older people is growing steadily. In 2014, the number of people aged 65 and over was 3.4 million, a three-folder increase on the decade prior. This trend is expected to continue, particularly as the “baby boomer generation” ages. Based on population projections by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, by 2064 there will be 9.6 million aged 65 and over, and 1.9 million aged 85 and over. Against this demographic background and the increase in sophisticated technologies, the government has made it a financial imperative to lift employment participation rates and boost productivity including by offering incentives to employers who employ older people. The only problem is that the definition of an older worker seems to be getting younger, as employers tend to implement cost cutting measures by shedding older workers through redundancy and other change management programs.