Read up on the latest news from McDonald Murholme, including case updates and legal commentary.
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that a gig economy worker is an employee and not a contractor. HRM talks to an expert and looks at the potential fallout. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found that a Foodora rider was an employee and not, as the company claimed, a contractor. The worker, Joshua Klooger, made an application for
Hundreds of thousands of workers are being forced to work under conditions that strip them of everything from sick pay to super – but now, they’re fighting back. Liam Kelly, who has worked in the construction industry for more than 30 years, told A Current Affair things had gone downhill a few years ago when he
As of 1st of November, Victorian employee entitlements have changed. Legal experts explain what HR needs to know. The Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic) came into effect Thursday 1st November and will introduce significant changes to long service leave (LSL) arrangements in Victoria. The new legislation will impact the entitlements of all Victorian employees who were previously covered by the Long
The Melbourne Cup has run on the first Tuesday of November for more than a century, and workers have been pulling sickies on Monday for almost as long. You can hardly blame people, a four-day weekend to kick off November is enticing, especially towards the tail-end of the year. It all begs the question: why
A QUEENSLAND sawmill worker sacked for refusing to sign in using a fingerprint scanner has lost an unfair dismissal claim despite his employer’s “disturbing” privacy failures. Factory hand Jeremy Lee took his case to the Fair Work Commission in March after being let go from the Superior Wood mill in Imbil, near Gympie, where he
What happens when a culture of transparency is taken to extremes? HRM examines the performance practices at Netflix and whether the company could legally operate in Australia. Organisational transparency is generally considered a good thing for workplace culture. It helps to ensure the right people are recruited and fosters a culture of inclusion and trust.
IS the long lunch a thing of the past? Nearly three quarters of Australian workers are not taking their full designated lunch break, with almost one in 10 skipping lunch breaks altogether, a new survey by Hays has found. The recruitment firm asked 1253 professionals about their lunch habits. Twenty-eight per cent said they take
A top executive at Lego Australia is suing the toy company for more than $400,000 because it allegedly fired him when he returned from an overseas transfer to care for his family. Lego Australia director of operations Robert Csano, who had been seconded to Japan since 2016, accused the family-owned company of discriminating against him
An Australian law firm has opened up on the firing of ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie, saying the dismissal should have lasting consequences for employment law cases going forward. McDonald Murholme has responded to news of Ms Guthrie being terminated from her top job at the ABC earlier this week. The highly publicised dismissal has
The firing of the ABC’s managing director Michelle Guthrie, and the subsequent fallout, has been the story of the week. But beyond the headlines are lessons for HR. The termination of the ABC’s managing director Michelle Guthrie this Monday has grown from what the organisation no doubt hoped would be a relatively quiet decision into
How and when should you withhold an employee’s bonus? HRM examines the legalities and neuroscience of this approach. Qantas has made headlines for a provision in a performance bonus they announced in August. The bonus, paid when an employee signs a new wage agreement, will be withheld if the employee “harms” Qantas. The kicker is that individuals
Australian employers could be forced to fork out as much as $8 billion in payments to casual workers looking to claim annual leave benefits, according to an analysis of a recent Federal Court decision by the Australian Industry Group. The Ai Group has found more than one million casual employees could be entitled to annual leave back
Limiting workplace discussions about mental health to a single day was never the point of R U OK? day. But for some organisations that’s all it has become. People I know have committed suicide. I say ‘know’ and not ‘knew’ because I am not comfortable referring to them in the past tense, and probably never
Former and current employees have accused Flight Centre of having a corrupt, booze-filled culture and troubling pay practices. HRM talks to legal experts Trent Hancock and Athena Koelmeyer about the matter. Travel company Flight Centre has been accused of encouraging staff to charge questionable mark-ups, and engaging in troubling pay practices. The workplace culture has
Workers are losing extra pay on weekends and public holidays because of deals between unions and businesses not because of cuts to penalty rates, the Turnbull government says. Government MPs aren’t backing a private member’s bill by Labor leader Bill Shorten to restore penalty rates for 700,000 workers, with Liberal Craig Kelly saying the bargaining
Uber passengers across Australia face the prospect of more stop-work action by drivers if the ride-sharing company refuses to improve pay rates for add-on services. Tens of thousands of Uber drivers did not pick up passengers during Monday’s morning commute as they protested for fairer conditions. Ride Share Drivers United want Uber to axe its
Drivers give Uber a one star rating in a push for better pay. Due to their independent status, they’re forced to use non-conventional methods. If you live in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane or Hobart, and rely on the ride share giant Uber to get you from A to B, you might have noticed a substantial
The food delivery company announced it’s closing in Australia, even as it has court cases outstanding. How will this impact the gig economy contractor/employee dispute? Foodora has announced that they will be “winding down services” and closed for business as of 20 August, even as it has impending legal matters to address. The food delivery
A former worker at Toyota Australia’s paint shop has been awarded nearly $70,000 in compensation after the Fair Work Commission found he was unfairly dismissed over allegations of inappropriate personal relationships with other workers. The employee worked as the general foreperson at Toyota’s paint shop in the production and quality subdivision and had been employed
A Sydney-based beauty and hair salon has avoided paying penalties by entering into an enforceable undertaking (EU) with Australia’s workplace watchdog after admitting to underpaying seven workers more than $25,000 and failing to issue them payslips. OKS Hair and Beauty Salon in Lidcombe drew the attention of the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) after one of
