As foreshadowed by our 26 August 2020 legal alert, the Government’s amendments to the JobKeeper Scheme have passed both Houses of Parliament, meaning the Scheme will be extended from 27 September 2020 until 28 March 2021. Under the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (JobKeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020 (Bill), employers who previously had access...
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The Government’s JobKeeper 2.0 legislation (Coronavirus Economic Response Package (JobKeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020) is expected to be introduced to the House of Representatives today, after the Federal Labor caucus agreed that it would support the legislation. The new legislation (“JobKeeper 2.0”) extends the flexibility measures provided by the original...
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A High Court majority has overturned the Full Federal Court’s finding in Mondelez v AMWU that the 10 days of personal/carer’s leave (‘sick leave’) per year in the National Employment Standards (NES) must reflect an employee’s ordinary hours of work. The High Court rejected the Union’s argument that 12 hour...
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The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has confirmed a strict interpretation of the concept of ‘stoppage of work’ under s 524 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act), which provides: An employer may, under this subsection, stand down an employee during a period in which the employee cannot be usefully employed because of...
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On 22 August 2019, EMA Legal advised (http://www.emalegal.com.au/2019/08/22/legal-alert-full-federal-court-rules-on-sick-leave-test-case/) that the Full Federal Court had found in Mondelez v AMWU that the 10 days of personal/carer’s leave (‘sick leave’) per year in the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) must reflect an employee’s ordinary hours of...
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Despite rejecting applications to vary modern awards to include paid pandemic leave for employees affected by COVID-19 earlier this year, on 27 July 2020, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (Commission) determined to amend certain modern awards to provide paid pandemic leave. The following modern awards will be...
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Amendments to the South Australian Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 (Act) came into effect on 20 July 2020. The Labour Hire Licensing Scheme previously applied to all industries, however the recent amendments narrow the licensing scheme’s previous scope to high risk industries, where workers are vulnerable to exploitation. Labour hire providers providing...
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The Government has announced that it will extend JobKeeper to March 2021 from its original end date of 27 September 2020. Currently, JobKeeper is a flat payment of $1,500 per fortnight for all eligible employees. However, from 28 September 2020, the following changes will be made to JobKeeper: For eligible...
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The Miscellaneous Award 2010 (Miscellaneous Award) was created by the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) predecessor to provide a ‘safety net’ for lower paid employees and those who are ‘modern award free’. On 25 March 2020, the Full Bench of the FWC determined that from 1 July 2020, clause 4.3 of the Miscellaneous...
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On 21 May 2020, we advised that the Full Federal Court had upheld the decision of WorkPac Pty Ltd v Skene [2018] FCAFC 131 (Skene) in WorkPac Pty Ltd v Rossato [2020] FCAFC 84 (Rossato). Click here to view the Legal Alert. Skene and Rossato have caused serious concerns for employers, as in effect, the...
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