By Renae Harg, Senior Associate, Lauren Wright, Lawyer and Miette Xamon, Law Clerk
When organising your office party this year, there are a few things to be mindful of. Your duty of care as an employer extends to the actions of your employees at a work-sponsored event, even if it held off-site or outside of office hours.
By Nikita Barsby, Special Counsel and Renae Harg, Senior Associate
Some employees may see the Christmas period as an opportunity to focus more on festive season activities and less on work. Employees may spend excessive time away from the office, having lunch or Christmas shopping. Other employees may spend excessive time online, shopping for Christmas presents or planning Christmas activities, or excessive time decorating the office. These types of behaviours can be difficult for employers to manage, without appearing Grinch-like and while still ensuring staff morale remains positive over the busy Christmas period.
By Nikita Barsby, Special Counsel and Madeleine Brown, Associate
Even the most well managed work Christmas parties sometimes don’t go to plan. We highlight below how to deal with the aftermath if things go wrong.
By Nikita Barsby, Special Counsel and Lauren Wright, Lawyer
An interview provides an employer with an opportunity to get to know prospective employees and assess their suitability for employment. Often, there are many questions an employer wants to ask a prospective employee – however care should be taken to avoid questions which can later be relied on by the interviewee to mount legal claims.
By Nikita Barsby, Special Counsel
HRD Australia recently reported that the success rate of Australian employers in unfair dismissal cases has dropped below 40% for the first time – while these remain the claim of choice for employees, with an unfair dismissal claim lodged every three and a half minutes in Australia.1
We expect hot topics for workplaces will include managing poor performance and bullying and stress claims, avoiding award or NES breach claims (and the risk of huge new penalties) or discrimination claims.
By MDC Legal
In a recent decision of the Federal Circuit Court an external accountant who advised a business on its employee arrangements was held liable under the accessorial provisions of the Fair Work Act. This decision is a red flag to external advisors who are closely involved with HR, payroll and employee entitlements of employer businesses.
By Nikita Barsby, Special Counsel
Around 45% of Australians aged between 16 and 85 will experience a mental illness in their lifetime, and 1 in 5 Australian adults will experience a mental illness in any given year.[1] Therefore, it is very likely that from time to time an employer will need to performance manage an employee who is experiencing a mental illness.
By MDC Legal
Not so long ago, there was a clear line between work and play – between conduct at work and employees’ private lives, with the latter being none of the employer’s business. Now, due to advances in technology (particularly information technology), the expansive reach of social media, and because employees are increasingly working from anywhere, the boundary between work life and private life has blurred.
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