Viewing entries tagged
employment law
Where there is a written contract, the rights and obligations of the contract need to support that an independent contracting relationship exists. The fact that a contractor has an ABN does not necessarily mean that they have genuinely been engaged as a contractor.
New paid family and domestic violence leave has come into effect for employers with 15 or more employees. for businesses with under 15 employees, access will be from 1 August 2023.
Under the new legislation, employees will be able to access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12 month period.
JobMaker is a credit available to eligible businesses for hiring additional employees (not if you are merely replacing someone who left). The hiring credit is available for jobs created from 7 October 2020 until 6 October 2021.
The Government has announced the $2.5bn JobTrainer package to retrain, upskill and open new job opportunities.
For some employers, JobKeeper will not be enough to keep the employee employed. If you do need to let staff go, the ATO has stated that from JobKeeper fortnights from 8 June onwards until the end of the scheme, ETPs cannot be included as part of the $1,500 an employer needs to pay to eligible employees to access JobKeeper payments.
From 1 July 2020, parents accessing the Government’s parental leave pay (PPL) scheme will have greater flexibility and options.
Targeting the self-employed and small business owners, the changes introduce a new flexible paid parental leave pay period of 30 days.
Previously, new parents could apply for PPL for a continuous block of up to 18 weeks. The changes split this time period into two:
A continuous period of up to 12 weeks, and
30 flexible days.
Parents can take the 18 weeks in one block or, under the new rules, take the 12 week period and then use the additional 30 days at a period and in a way that suits them but before the child turns 2 years of age. For example, assume that when Jane, who works five days per week, has a child, she initially claims 12 weeks. Jane returns to work part time for three days per week. In that case, Jane would apply to be paid parental leave pay on the two days per week that she is not working.
The administration of the PPL will change in some scenarios. For Jane’s case above, the employer would administer the scheme for the first 12 weeks but then the Government would directly pay Jane for her flexible days.
If an employee wishes to access flexible parental leave pay, they will need to negotiate time off work or a part time return to work with their employer. If the employer is unable to accommodate the request, then the employee may take the 18 weeks as one block.
The changes to the paid parental leave scheme apply to babies born on or after 1 July 2020. The scheme commences from 1 April 2020 to give parents applying for leave the flexibility to use the new arrangements (but only if their child is born on or after 1 July 2020).
An increase to the minimum wage of 1.75% will start rolling out for the first full pay period from 1 July 2020.
The increase applies to minimum rates in awards in 3 stages
News headlines recently stated that casual workers have won the right to paid leave following a decision in the Federal Court. As usual, the devil is in the detail.
Empty restaurants and retail stores were one of the first signs of the devastating impact the coronavirus on Australian businesses. So what can you do for yourself, your family and your workplace?
A series of high-profile examples of businesses underpaying their employees has brought the need to get payroll right into sharp focus.
Complex award and enterprise agreements can complicate payroll obligations, in terms of both regular salary and wages and the ongoing need to pay employee superannuation. On top of that, from 1 March 2020, changes commence for annualised wage arrangements that will increase the compliance burden on some businesses.
A former Foodora Australia delivery rider, Joshua Klooger, recently won an unfair dismissal claim despite a service agreement that classified him as an independent contractor. We explore the implications of the case.
