modern awards Archives - MDC Legal

Overtime and Reasonable Additional Hours

Overtime and Reasonable Additional Hours in Australia

Posted by | additional hours, HR Advice & Support, modern award | No Comments

By Joanna Knoth, Senior Associate and Gemma Little, Associate

An employee is not be entitled to be paid for any “reasonable additional hours” they work. However, an employee may be entitled to be paid overtime, penalty rates or other allowances for time worked outside of or in addition to their ordinary hours of work if they are covered by an award or enterprise agreement.

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What are your New Year’s Resolutions? New Year resolutions for employers in 2019

Posted by | casual staff, Contracts, HR Advice & Support, modern award, pay rates, polices and procedures, Policies and Procedures, training | No Comments

By Joanna Knoth, Senior Associate and Renae Harg, Senior Associate

Now that the festive season is over, employers can focus on the year ahead. What New Year’s resolutions are you making for your business?
Below are some practical New Year’s resolutions that may minimise your employment law risks.

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Are you being underpaid? Are you underpaying your staff?

Posted by | Articles, complaince, Contracts, contractual entitlements, HR Advice & Support, modern award | No Comments

By Nikita Barsby, Special Counsel and Lauren Wright, Lawyer

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) recently conducted an audit of businesses throughout the eastern states of Australia which found that 72% of the businesses had breached workplace laws.[1] The audit resulted in the recovery of $471,904 for 616 workers across the 234 businesses audited. The most common breach was an underpayment of hourly rates, followed by non-existent or inadequate employment records.

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What’s in a name: The effect of a position title on Modern Award coverage

Posted by | Articles, complaince, Contracts, HR Advice & Support, modern award, Terminations, Unfair Dismissals & Adverse Action, Training & Compliance | No Comments

By Mark Cox, Director and Ruth Collins, Lawyer 

It is a common misconception amongst employers that a senior position title and high income can exclude an employee from being covered by a modern award. Not so. Instead, employers must look to the principle purpose of the position the employee was performing to assess whether it is covered by the classifications of roles covered by the award.

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