A quick Google search for career ending moves at the work Christmas Party may be an amusing exercise. However, at this time of the year it serves as a timely and educative reminder to both employers and employees that poor management, planning and behaviour can make the annual Christmas festivities, and their aftermath, a very sobering experience indeed. In our experience these events are notorious for being a potential breeding ground for inappropriate workplace behaviour and may put employers at risk of litigious actions such as sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and unfair dismissal claims.
Can an employer terminate the employment of an ill or injured employee, who has been of work for sometime and is refusing or ignoring requests to attend independent medical examinations. Disability discrimination legislation allows an employer to terminate the employment of an employee where the employee is not able to fulfill the inherent requirements of the role as a result of the disability. However, the application of this defence is often difficult, as it means the employer needs to be sure by reference to compelling evidence (usually independent medical evidence) that this is the case.
The importance of the Senior Executives team for any business cannot be underestimated. They are ultimately responsible for the culture, performance and success of the business. However, what happens when a senior executive leaves the business. Have you considered how this may impact the business? What are the matters that any responsible business should consider in circumstances where a senior executive leaves?
Following on from our last article in relation to how to motivate senior executives, in this week’s article, we look at the factors an employer should consider ensuring the business is protected when senior employees wish to resign, or the business chooses to remove them.
It is often believed that “money talks” when it comes to hiring senior executives. But does a salary alone provide motivation to senior executives?
When it comes to senior executives, many businesses believe by paying a significant salary they will obtain the best out of the employee. However, this is not necessarily always correct. A number of other options should be considered by organisations to motivate their senior executives. It is a fact that the culture and success of any business starts with its people and most notably its senior people. If the senior managers are engaged, motivated and have the relevant leadership skills, the business is much more likely to succeed.
There has been significant widespread interest in employee’s rights and what constitutes a reasonable request from an employee and the employer’s options in response. Legislation and industrial instruments such as Modern Awards cover key employee entitlements. These include amongst many others:
the right to request and take annual leave;
the right to refuse unreasonable overtime hours;
the right to make a complaint or inquiry; and
the right to request a flexible working arrangement.
It is common knowledge that employers have a choice as to how they employ their employees. In circumstances where the employer does not need someone to work full-time hours, they can either employ the individual as a part-time permanent employee, or as a casual employee. However, many employers have abused the concept of casual employment by effectively retaining employees for long periods of continuous and predictable employment. We should also recognise that many employees prefer casual employment as they receive a greater rate of pay than they would otherwise as a permanent employee.
In the last week alone, the world has seen more than 30 people brutally murdered in mass shooting in the USA. In that regard, the American National Institute of Justice has conducted a recent study in which it has examined every shooting incident at schools, workplaces and places of worship since 1999. As a result of the study, it found that in the majority of mass shooting cases, early childhood trauma including exposure to domestic abuse and violence at a young age was a prevalent issue. The nature of such exposure included parental suicide, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and/or severe bullying. The trauma was often a precursor to the development of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, thought disorders or suicidality.
Digital platforms have brought about significant convenience in the way people access many essential services such as accommodation, transport, food, odd jobs and maintenance work through apps such as AirBnB, Uber, UberEats, Deliveroo and Airtasker, commonly referred to as the “gig economy”. Unsurprisingly, this rapidly growing industry does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.
The right of individuals to disclose wrongdoing has long been stymied by the conflicting right of employers keeping confidential information, confidential. This conflict has been recently highlighted by the plight of Richard Boyle who is currently facing a 161 year prison sentence for blowing the whistle on the Australian Tax Office. His decision to disclose confidential information regarding the conduct of the ATO, has come at a significant cost to him. It is also clear that the failure to protect whistleblowers has had a real detriment to the disclosure of problematic conduct.
Few departments handle as many responsibilities and manage as much information as human resources. Technology makes the task of recruitment, performance evaluation, payroll, and benefits administration more manageable and allows human resource personnel to engage the company’s employees better.
AI or Artificial Intelligence is a powerful technology that is being used in many fields and is revolutionising many sectors. HR is an area where AI is being used extensively. In fact, the gradually increasing use of AI in HR has given rise to fears that it may lead to a situation where the ‘human’ in HR may become irrelevant.
There are discussions on how HR departments may be entirely taken over by AI bots leading to the loss of jobs for humans. Is this really a possibility? What impact would AI have on humans carrying out the HR function? Read on to find the answers to these questions.
Welcome back to all our readers and best wishes for a successful 2019!
It is fair to say that the new year is certainly underway and with it, a raft of key changes to legislation have been ushered into the employment law arena. In this client alert we discuss the consequences of the Fair Work Commission Full Bench decision in Huntsman Chemical Company Australia Pty Ltd TA RMAX Rigid Cellular Plastics & Others [2019] FWCFB 318 (“Huntsman”) delivered on 18 January 2019 which considers the effect of the Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of 4 Yearly Reviews and Other Measures) Act 2019 (“Amending Act”) which provides a mechanism for the Commission to dispense with minor procedural errors relating to the making of enterprise agreements where it is concluded the enterprise agreement has otherwise been “genuinely agreed”.