http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au A lot of my clients have indicated that they are waiting for a simple labour law guide with all the answers in plain English explanations. With that in mind, we have developed The Employment Law Practical Handbook: a hands-on guide to labour law written in layman’s terms to help you protect your business and stay on the right side of the law. Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:20:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Dear Reader, There's no two ways about it - good teamwork is essential to your business. Why? Because a team of employees who work well together will not only be more productive, they'll also be happier in their jobs, communicate more effectively, and be less likely to leave your ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/07/28/team-building/ Dear Reader, With all the changes the Fair Work Act has made to dismissal legislation, you'd certainly be forgiven for being a little wary about dismissing an employee these days. Because the fact of the matter is, even if you think a dismissal is cut and dried, there's a good ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/07/27/dismissing/ Dear Reader, Late last week, the federal government announced that it has made some important changes to the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code Checklist. And yes, these changes will affect you. Why? Because from now on, before you dismiss an employee, you will need to follow the new ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/07/22/salaries-dont-dispute-additional-hours/ Dear Reader, Last week, a rather interesting case caught my eye... It involved Australian fashion chain Cotton On, who admitted to failing to pay 3289 employees for attending training sessions and staff meetings outside of work hours over an 11 month period in 2008. The company voluntarily paid back $278,000 ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/07/20/underpaying-your-employees/ Dear Reader, Any incident that occurs in your workplace must be properly investigated. Whether it is an incidence of bullying, a disagreement between employees, an occupational health and safety breach, or otherwise, make sure you go out of your way to dot every "i" and cross every "t" during the ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/07/15/workplace-investigation/ Dear Reader, Dismissal is always a difficult issue... And one of the trickiest aspects of dismissal is determining exactly when an employee can no longer perform the inherent requirements of their position. If you get it even slightly wrong, you could expose yourself to an unfair dismissal claim or even breach ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/07/13/how-to-determine-when-an-employee-can-no-longer-perform-their-position/ Dear Reader, When you make an enterprise agreement, sometimes getting it approved is not just a matter of including the correct details... Sometimes, the attention you pay to the submittal process is just as important. You see, even if your enterprise agreement meets all the requirements it needs for approval ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/07/08/enterprise-agreement-2/ Dear Reader, On 1 August 2011, brand new equal opportunity legislation for Victoria will come into force. This new legislation will place increased obligations on employers to be proactive about enforcing equal opportunity law rather than simply complying with it after a complaint has been made. So what does ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/07/05/sexual-discrimination/ Dear Reader, Here at the Bulletin, I often get sent queries about employment law issues like dismissal, redundancy, leave, awards, agreements and more. So this week, I thought I would share 3 of the most frequently asked questions (and their answers!) with you... Here goes... Question: Is sick leave included ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/06/30/employment-law-questions/ Dear Reader, If you've considered making some redundancies lately, but put the idea in the "too hard" basket because you think it's too difficult to prove a redundancy is genuine, think again. A recent decision handed down by Fair Work Australia shows that sometimes, the roles and functions performed ... http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/2010/06/25/proving-a-redundancy-is-genuine/