Many employers breathed a sigh of relief that the complicated Workpac case about a casual has been resolved by the High Court, which found the employee was casual and not entitled to annual and other leave as claimed.
Responding to the IR Minister’s request of late last year, the FWC has introduced certain flexibilities into the Retail award and is about to do the same to the Restaurants award. While the request and the reaction to it arose because of the pandemic, the flexibilities themselves make sense regardless of current circumstances and have been a feature of enterprise agreements for the past 25 years.
Reacting to stakeholder concerns and political pressures, the Fair Work Commission has appreciably sped up enterprise agreement approval processes. Almost mirroring recent failed time-limit legislative moves, the FWC is now settling an impressive 80% of approval applications inside three weeks.
Once again the FWC has baulked at approving agreements where it was not convinced the employers had taken all reasonable steps to explain the proposed deals to the employees.
For the first time, a casual will be defined in federal legislation. Importantly, the definition focuses on the intention of the employer and the employee at the start of the relationship in identifying the true nature of the employment contract. This development follows the controversial Workpac cases where employees, engaged and paid as casuals, were […]
Ross Clarke has more than a decade’s experience in the enterprise bargaining room.
The knowledge and skill he has acquired in this time has enabled him to develop a highly sophisticated planning and process model for successful enterprise bargaining. This proven methodology delivers results across all industries including distribution, hospitality, banking, retail, manufacturing, telecommunications and gaming.
“Ross’s knowledge of industrial relations and his ability to understand how and when to communicate internally with government; and with the media were instrumental in guiding the Association’s successful response to the campaign.”
Patrick Griffin OAM, Australian Hotels Association
Mobile: 0419 401 702
Email ross@workrelations.com.au
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