On 6 December 2022, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 received royal assent and became the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (SJBP Act).

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What do you do when you find out that one of your employees has sent a ‘d%#k pic’ on Snapchat to his co-worker who is currently at home on maternity leave with her newborn baby? The picture is sent out of work hours from the employee’s personal mobile phone… (1)

Or another employee posts sexually explicit memes on Facebook – one of which contains a sexual connotation referring to a female colleague? (2)

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The Delta outbreak of COVID-19 has thrown yet another curve ball in this pandemic. Businesses are now grappling with increased transmissibility of the virus, the continued threat of workplace outbreaks, and the economic toll of lockdowns. It is little wonder that the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in Australia – which was eagerly awaited but slow to gain momentum – has left many businesses asking the question – can I tell my staff to get vaccinated? And if yes – what can I do if they refuse to get vaccinated?

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With Australia’s largest vaccination program ever kicking off next month, many businesses are looking forward to moving further towards ‘normal’ operations. And central to this will be making sure that as many staff as possible get the COVID-19 vaccine.

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In Australia during 2020, we have seen the COVID-19 pandemic prompt mass stand downs under existing Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) provisions, as well as temporary JobKeeper provisions being put in place to assist qualifying employers to use JobKeeper enabling directions and agreements to manage employees during these unprecedented times.

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1. Extension of JobKeeper

The Morrison Government has today announced that the JobKeeper Scheme, originally due to end on 27 September 2020, will continue at a reduced payment rate until 28 March 2021.

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As the state and federal governments strive to keep Australia’s COVID-19 health crisis under control by maintaining a ‘flattened curve’ and containing outbreaks, much of the focus is shifting to combating the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, by gradually lifting restrictions and permitting businesses to re-open.

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We have set out below a quick reference guide to the general position with respect to the various types of leave that a full-time, part-time or fixed term employee, who is impacted by the novel coronavirus outbreak, may be entitled to take or to request.

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The outbreak and rapid spread of a novel corona virus, COVID-19, is throwing up all sorts of dilemmas for businesses – with a spotlight on business continuity planning.

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Some clients are astonished when they find out that the Fair Work Act 2009 makes no mention of probationary periods. That’s right – nowhere at all amongst the hundreds of pages. And whilst there are some common misunderstandings around probationary periods, the situation is usually very straightforward.

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