The highly anticipated National Minimum Wage decision was handed down by the Fair Work Commission today, which means the National Minimum Wage and the rates of pay in all modern awards will increase from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2018. There are also a range of other workplace related changes which will come into effect from 1 July 2018, which are outlined below.

On 26 March 2018, the Full Bench of the FWC took a provisional view as to the terms of a clause to be inserted into modern awards to supplement s65 of the Fair Work Act, which provides certain employees with a right to request flexible working conditions.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is introducing new compliance requirements called Single Touch Payroll (STP) which aligns the reporting obligations of your business to your payroll processes.

There have been stories in the media recently about employers charging students and graduates for the privilege of participating in an unpaid internship.  Setting aside whether an internship is a necessary step to build a career or exploitation of a vulnerable group, employers engaging interns should take note. The law around offering work experience and internships is clear and the penalties for getting it wrong can be significant. 

Two massage parlour companies and their sole director have been fined $43,200 for failing to keep employee records.  Demonstrating a refreshingly honest approach, the director said that he “did not do the records and other things properly, because I am too busy and lazy” and “I do not want to provide fake infor (sic). If I am not honest, I will have more trouble”. The Tribunal member hearing the matter said that the failure to keep records and issue pay slips was a serious matter and noted that the failure hindered the ability of the Fair Work Ombudsman to identify employee underpayments.

On 12 October 2017, the Federal Court delivered a judgment in a case brought by a freight handler, Mr Tomvald seeking to enforce a right to convert his casual employment to permanent full-time employment with his employer Toll Transport* (Toll). He relied on a casual conversion clause in Toll’s enterprise agreement (EA). The EA also incorporated the casual conversion clause in the relevant Modern Award, the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2010 (Award), but the EA applied in the event of any inconsistency.

Following the recent claims made against Harvey Weinstein, thousands of women have spoken up about their experience of workplace sexual harassment using the hashtag #metoo. We might like to imagine that sexual harassment is not happening in workplaces across Australia, but women are clearly telling us otherwise. Below are our top tips to prevent sexual harassment in your business.

The Federal Circuit Court has sent a clear message to employers about the importance of award compliance and proper record keeping.  The court recently imposed a record penalty of $644,000 on a Melbourne fruit market for various award contraventions, and a further penalty of $16,020 on the owner for his involvement in those contraventions.

Recently, TSheets, a provider of GPS mobile tracking apps, shared their research into the use of GPS tracking by employers with us. Their survey findings included that:

• 43% of workers were given less than 14 days' notice before GPS tracking was introduced;
• 39% of workers were given notice verbally; and
• One in five vehicles with GPS units did not display a sign informing the driver that GPS tracking was occurring.

This research is a timely reminder for NSW employers to ensure they comply with the Workplace Surveillance Act 2005, including with respect to GPS tracking.

The Fair Work Commission has released a draft model casual conversion clause as part of its four yearly modern award review process. The draft clause is to be included in 85 modern awards that do not currently include casual conversion clauses and if approved in its current form, will allow regular casual employees to request that their employment be converted to part time or full time employment. 

Key features of the draft clause include: