On Friday last week, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) published an updated Information Sheet 89 on “Communicating with employees about choice of superannuation fund: What you can and cannot do.” This is great timing as the changes to Information Sheet 89 reflect the super fund ‘stapling’ measures, which commence on 1 November 2021.  Why is … Read more

Just like last year, the increase to award wages is happening in 3 stages. REMINDER: The increase for the Retail Award applies from the first full pay period on or after 1 September 2021. Depending on the award, there were 3 different start dates!  Here is a recap of the different start dates: Start date Which awards … Read more

The Fair Work Ombudsman has issued fresh guidance on the topic of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for staff, giving employers in certain industries the green light. Previously, the FWO advised that the majority of employers in Australia would not be able to require workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. But there has been growing pressure from … Read more

Following on from the new definition of a ‘casual employee’ and new ‘casual conversion requirements’ announced this year, the Fair Work Commission has now completed the first stage of its review of relevant terms in modern awards by revising the ‘casual terms’ for an opening group of 6 modern awards. The 6 Stage 1 awards are: General Retail Industry Award 2020 (Retail … Read more

This is not an easy topic due to the interaction of different laws. It is important to note that when making a decision about which rule applies in a given situation concerning an employee, the legislation will always over-ride the award, enterprise agreement or employment contract where the legislation is more beneficial to the employee, … Read more

Tax time is underway, and the ATO have announced that they are receiving an increase in reports of email scams that try to steal personal information. Scammers pretending to be from the ‘myGov customer care team’ are sending emails that include screenshots of the myGovID app, asking people to verify their identity by clicking on … Read more