In the past few months, there has been a flurry of activity, discussion and legal changes in relation to casual employees. If you have “casual” employees working on a regular and systematic basis, they may in fact actually be permanent employees entitled to annual leave and other entitlements. This means you may have a substantial back pay issue.
Is it possible to claim the design of a glass box? This question hit the music world earlier this month, when in early November 2018, soon after Kanye West and Kid Cudi performed their set at the Camp Flog Gnaw festival in LA, Grammy award winning New Zealand musician Lorde took to her Instagram account to accuse Kanye West and Kid Cudi of stealing her set design: a suspended glass box.
Dealing with an employee who is not performing to the standard required of someone in their position can be a complex situation, so when you throw into the mix knowledge that they may be suffering from a mental illness, an already difficult situation can become a whole new level of complicated!
The decision handed down in the case of WorkPac Pty Ltd v Skene [2018] FCAFC 131 reasserts the traditional view that you cannot convert an employee who is really a regular full, or part-time employee into a casual simply by calling the employee ‘casual’. Employers must look at the actual facts of the employment relationship in deciding what the real nature of the relationship is.
The Fair Work Commission has now finalised the text for the casual conversion clause, which is to be inserted into 84 modern awards which did not already have a casual conversion clause.
When two parties decide to separate, it is important to keep in mind that time is of the essence. Both the Family Law Act and the associated court rules require strict adherence to certain time limitations, all of which are important for parties to a relationship breakdown to be aware of.
As an employer, one of the most important factors to keep in mind with regard to the engagement of contractors is ensuring that you get the on-costs right. This extends to understanding the difference between an ’employee’ and a ‘contractor’, and having a good understanding of who you need to pay superannuation to.
The Board of Directors at Coleman Greig Lawyers is excited to announce the appointment of Andrea Galloway as Non-Executive Director, effective as of 31 October 2018. Andrea is both an executive and non-executive director with more than 35 years’ experience across a number of sectors, including technology, housing and professional services.
With the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme having now been in operation for close to 9 months, Coleman Greig has decided to take a detailed look at what the current statistics are saying, as well as what organisations are able to glean from them in order to effectively protect both themselves and their clients from cyber-attacks.
Deciding whether or not to commence legal proceedings can often be a difficult decision. To assist with this, applications for preliminary discovery can be made to obtain documents from a prospective defendant, which often provides insight into whether or not proceedings should be commenced.
If you are married, but have been separated for at least 12 months and one day, it may be time to consider applying for divorce. If you do decide to apply for a divorce, there are a number of factors that Coleman Greig suggests you take into account before doing so.
It is important for employers to be familiar with the provisions in the Fair Work Act surrounding right of entry for union representatives. Representatives with an entry permit can enter an employer’s premises in order to meet with employees who are, or could be members of the union, to hold discussions during “breaks”, or to investigate a suspected contravention of an award or enterprise agreement.
As the matter covered in this article highlights, it is incredibly important for businesses to monitor their competitors, and if they wish to protect their intellectual property, to ensure that they take timely legal action to do so.
Despite some initial resistance and teething problems, most practitioners in the wider community have been part of a general push towards e-conveyancing, as the ‘word on the street’ is that all transactions will be required to take place on the e-platform by 1 July 2019.
On 18 March 2018, the Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) visa, more commonly known as the ‘457 visa’ was abolished and replaced with a new skilled visa scheme, called the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa (‘TSS visa’). Now that the dust has somewhat settled, employers are once again enquiring about the requirements for sponsoring skilled workers.
If the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Bill 2017 is passed by the parliament, new legislation will see major amendments to the Corporations Act 2001, creating an expanded regime under which both public and large private corporations will be required to implement internal whistleblower policies.
Participants in Western Sydney’s Largest charity race, the Coleman Greig Challenge, set a new record on Friday 21 September 2018, raising over $231,000 for children with special needs and newborn care.
The Wall Street Journal recently revealed that Google had left users of their social media platform Google+ vulnerable following the discovery of a bug, which potentially exposed the data of over 500,000 users to 438 external applications. In turn, it has been announced that Google will be shutting the social media site down in August 2019.
In most cases, it is necessary for parties to attend mediation and obtain a Section 60(I) Certificate prior to going to Family Court – although the need to attend mediation can be waived in circumstances of urgency. If the matter is deemed sufficiently urgent, it is possible to attend court. In cases where the matter is extremely urgent, Orders can be sought on an ex parte basis, meaning that the matter will be dealt with without the other party having the opportunity to attend Family Court, or present evidence.
Although the wheels are still in motion and we are yet to see the final product, the Financial Services Royal Commission is already forcing changes within the banking industry which are likely to significantly slow lending, and which have already caused a drop in the value of Australian property.
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