http://www.cleardocs.com/clearlaw/employment-related/index.html ClearLaw articles What-the-employment-law-changes-mean-for-small-businesses-and-individuals <h3>Casual employment, independent contractors and the right to disconnect: what the employment law changes mean for small businesses and individuals</h3> <p>The Federal Government has recently introduced a range of new employment law reforms to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (<strong>Fair Work Act</strong>), which will impact on both small and non-small businesses. </p> <p>The reforms will implement a wide range of changes to the Fair Work Act but, in particular, focus on providing greater regulation and certainty in respect of casual employees and independent contractors. The reforms also include a new 'right to disconnect' for employees of small businesses.</p> <p>Given the breadth of these reforms, both individuals and small-business owners should be on notice as to how these changes may impact on current employment arrangements. This article provides a high-level overview of the changes made, outlining the key changes for small business employers and individuals to be aware of.</p> Wed, 20 Nov 2024 01:11:05 GMT Chris Wright, Maddocks Lawyers 707 Contracting-out-of-Australian-Consumer-Law-protections-Victorian-Court-of-Appeal-sounds-a-warning-to-businesses <p><i>People commonly associate the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) as primarily concerned with consumer protection across Australia.</i></p> <p><i>However the ACL has progressively made its way from business-to-consumer relationships, into business-to-business relationships – particularly in the area of unfair contracts.</i></p> <p><i>The recent Victorian Court of Appeal decision in Viterra Malt Pty Ltd v Cargill Australia Ltd [2023] VSCA 13 (Cargill Case) sounds a warning to businesses that an attempt to contract out of liability for misleading and deceptive conduct claims under the ACL will also be ineffective.</i></p> <p><i>This article discusses the key take-aways from the Cargill Case on the concept of freedom of contract and the enforceability of contractual exclusions, against the backdrop of the ACL and public policy. We also flag some ways businesses can manage the risk of misleading and deceptive conduct claims when dealing with other parties.</i></p> Wed, 30 Aug 2023 06:08:36 GMT Nick Worth, Maddocks Lawyers 668 HECS-loans-calls-to-abolish-indexation-as-inflation-hits-student-debt <p><em>Once thought of as "the best debt you'll ever have", the cost of HECS-HELP debts are rising. There are growing calls to abolish the practice of indexing HECS-HELP debts as indexation is forecast to rise steeply in line with inflation, alongside Australia’s largest real wage decline on record in 2022.<br /> <br /> On 17 April 2023, a Bill aimed at pausing indexation and increasing the minimum repayment threshold was rejected by a Senate committee, signalling that there is not likely to be any easy answers to the problem of rising student debts. With this year's indexation rate scheduled to be announced on 26 April 2023 and inflation projected to be at least 7%, average loan balances are expected to spike this year in the absence of Government intervention.</em></p> Thu, 27 Apr 2023 01:02:36 GMT Crystal McPhillips 656 WFH-ATO-pivots-to-reflect-contemporary-arrangements <i>The ATO has refreshed the way taxpayers claim working from home related expenses to better reflect contemporary arrangements. Working from home deductions can be claimed under the fixed rate method or the actual cost method. The popular fixed rate method is being revised to make it easier for taxpayers to calculate their deductions. Some notable changes include the fixed rate of deductions being increased from 52 cents per work hour to 67 cents, and the removal of the requirement for a dedicated home office space. This article will provide a summary of the two methods of claiming working from home deductions and set out the changes the ATO is making to the fixed rate method.</i> <p></p> Thu, 30 Mar 2023 03:46:53 GMT Sophie Edgar, Maddocks 653 secure-jobs-better-pay <p>The Federal Government has secured passage of a raft of significant changes to the industrial relations system in Australia. The reform proposals have garnered widespread attention and scrutiny. The changes have been the focus of industry groups, politicians and the media before the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2022A00079" target="_blank"><i>Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022</i></a> (Cth) finally passed both Houses of Parliament on 2 December 2022. Four days later, it received Royal Assent.</p> <p>The changes introduced range from the introduction of multi-employer bargaining (and the eligibility for participating in the bargaining process), amendments to the application of the ‘better off overall test’ (also known as the BOOT), a prohibition on certain fixed-term contracts and pay secrecy, the abolition of the <a href="https://www.abcc.gov.au/" target="_blank">Australian Building and Construction Commission</a> and greater rights to flexible working arrangements. Given the breadth of the reforms, both employers and employees should be on notice as to how these changes will impact their employment arrangements in the future.</p> <p>This article summarises the existing enterprise bargaining system, includes a high-level summary of the changes and considers the views advanced on both sides of the debate.</p> Fri, 16 Dec 2022 04:19:28 GMT Charlie Clark, Maddocks Lawyers 645 the-whole-contract-and-nothing-but-the-contract <p><em>In two long-awaited decisions about the proper characterisation of workers, the High Court has found that whether an individual is an employee or a contractor is to be almost exclusively answered by the terms of the written contract.</em></p> Fri, 11 Mar 2022 06:25:40 GMT Michael Nicolazzo, Meaghan Bare, Maree Skinner & Mary-Anne Nolan, Maddocks Lawyers 615 casual-is-a-causal <p><em>The High Court recently handed down its decision on WorkPac's appeal <a href="#ref1" id="1">[1]</a> regarding how you define and classify casual employees. The decision to uphold Workpac's appeal, coupled with the recent amendments this year to the Fair Work Act 2009, provides more confidence for employers on how casual employees are defined under Australian law.</em></p> Mon, 20 Sep 2021 04:55:40 GMT Christine Maibom, Elizabeth Reed & Grace Turner-Mobbs, Maddocks Lawyers 604 the-olias-case <p><em>An organisation will have different tax and superannuation obligations depending on whether its workers are employees or contractors. This has become particularly relevant as more workers engage in casual or sporadic work over platforms such as 'Uber Eats', 'Airtasker' or 'Deliveroo'.</em></p> <p><em>In an <a href="/clearlaw/employment-related/ato-guides-employee-or-contractor.html">earlier article</a>, we set out the factors an organisation should consider when working out if a worker is an employee or contractor. This included the worker's ability to delegate, the basis of their payment and the degree of control they have over their work.</em></p> <p><em>The recent decision in Olias <a href="#ref1" id="1">[1]</a> provides interesting real-world guidance on the factors an organisation needs to consider, including new insights on the 'Results Test', the 'Control Test', the indicia of delegation and the level of the worker's integration into the business.</em></p> Thu, 08 Jul 2021 04:49:40 GMT Ari Armstrong, Maddocks Lawyers 597 updates-to-cleardocs-employment-contract <p><em>It has now been over 10 years since the introduction of the Fair Work Act created what was essentially a completely new national industrial relations system. In order to ensure that the Cleardocs’ contracts reflect the evolution of current legislation, case law and good practice, the Cleardocs Employment Contract has been reviewed and updated. </em></p> Mon, 17 Feb 2020 00:16:12 GMT Eloise Daff, Maddocks Lawyers 560 not-enough-to-say-no <p>The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission recently handed down a decision that will expand on an employer's obligations when considering an employee's request for 'family friendly' working arrangements. The decision will insert a model term into all modern awards (<strong>Flexible Work Decision</strong>).</p> Sun, 16 Dec 2018 13:53:36 GMT Courtney Ford & Catherine Burkhalter, Maddocks Lawyers 532