The beginning of the year is the ideal opportunity to reassess your HR documentation and organisational strategy. This can include employment contracts, resetting expectations about standards of behaviour and revising working arrangements. In 2022, be proactive and confident to recast your existing approach with a new strategy.

The need to be fast, agile and ahead of the curve on all levels of customer service is no longer a ‘nice idea,’ it’s a business imperative. This tipping point has created an abundance of work for IT teams in Australia and around the globe, and a backlog of work that needs to be delivered now, not next year. If you, like so many companies, didn’t jump early into this digital race, how do you catch up? While I’m here to advise Australian organisations (small, medium or large) on how to do this, you must first understand that the crisis isn’t over.  

Industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain, auDA, has released its inaugural Digital Lives of Australians 2021 Report. The report finds Australian consumers and small businesses benefit immensely from the Internet, but cybersecurity threats continue to pose a huge concern.

On 1 July this year, WorkSafe Victoria introduced provisional payments to provide better support for workers with a mental injury. Eligible workers and volunteers who submit a mental injury claim can now access provisional payments for reasonable treatment and services while their claim is being determined.

The Fair Work Commission has upheld the CFMMEU’s challenge to BHP’s Site Access Requirement rendering a mandatory vaccination requirement unlawful and unreasonable.

There has been a substantial increase in staff turnover around the world as restrictions ease and employees have been able to return to the workplace. Here are some simple tips to help ensure your business can adapt and tackle the great resignation head on.

As many businesses continue to grapple with the complex laws around wages, mistakes can easily be made and quickly add up to substantial underpayments.

The Fair Work Commission has refused to award compensation to a hotel worker who would not agree to a temporary reduction in hours, despite finding that she was unlawfully stood down. The Commission maintained she failed to “share the burden of the pandemic.”

The Fair Work Commission has confirmed a company’s rejected request for an employee to return to full-time hours was consistent with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code and did not warrant an unfair dismissal.

The Victorian Chamber is delighted to extend an invitation to our members and clients to participate in a design workshop to help identify innovative and practical education approaches to improve equality in the workplace.

We know business and workers need to do their bit to manage and slow the spread of COVID-19. Every business should: have a COVIDSafe plan; provide hand sanitiser; regularly clean high-touch surfaces; comply with rules regarding vaccination; ensure staff wear face masks where required; and use QR codes. In addition, some businesses must conduct COVID-19 surveillance tests and some are recommended to implement a testing scheme.

Enterprise bargaining can be an intimidating and tiring task. Make sure you invest time in planning and developing your bargaining strategy before you begin the process.

The One Stop One Story Hub Pilot Program aims to ease the burdens faced by people experiencing vulnerability by providing a single access point for a range of support services.

The Fair Work Commission has determined an employee’s dismissal was unfair despite finding the staff member guilty of engaging in sexual harassment.

With vaccination numbers increasing daily and lockdown lifting, businesses are starting to consider what an end-of-year celebration may look like in 2021. It is expected many will take the opportunity to catch-up in-person, either on the worksite or by supporting their local restaurants or pubs.

With the hospitality and retail sectors in the process of reopening their doors and workplaces welcoming staff back to their offices in coming weeks, focus has shifted to how businesses should request and handle COVID-19 vaccine certificates and vaccination information.