Today is World Mental Health Day and is therefore a good opportunity to consider mental health at work. We are often asked when and how mental health became a workplace issue. The answer often surprises people, as it has always been a workplace issue, we just haven’t always recognised it as such.  Although there is now much greater awareness of mental health issues impacting employment, there have always been situations in the workplace, which if

Recent decisions of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) have illustrated how important it is for employers to follow sound practices when taking disciplinary action. Further, if employers have a policy in place, be that in an Award, an Enterprise Agreement or an employer policy, they should follow it. Recently, a hospital security guard who was summarily dismissed after using “disproportionate and excessive force” to prevent a patient from leaving the emergency department was awarded more

It’s vital to have a Social Media Policy in place and ensure your employees understand what it means, with social media becoming such an integral part of running a business. Media stories about employees putting their employment at risk through their social media posts seem to have increased in recent months. You may be familiar with the Football player who had his contract cancelled due, at least in part, to the content of his social

Following an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), Made Establishment, celebrity chef George Calombaris’ hospitality empire, has been found to have underpaid more than 500 employees. The celebrity chef self-reported an underpayment to the FWO when it came to his attention following a change of management in 2017. He initially thought the underpayment was in the vicinity of $2 million. However, the FWO have identified that the underpayment is in fact in excess of

A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC)[1] has once again reminded employers of the importance of ensuring comparative justice in the implementation of disciplinary action.  A lack of consistency in the disciplinary action, particularly where it involves termination of employment, taken between different employees or across different worksites could lead to the disciplinary action  being considered unfair, unjust or unreasonable under the Fair Work Act 2009. In this case, the FWC found that