Employment Law Podcast

In this final edition for 2022, we discuss the recent legislative changes to the Fair Work Act and Anti-Discrimination laws, that the new Government has brought in as part of their election promises.

We are also joined again by Samantha Mangwana of Shine Lawyers, who shares her insights into the amendments to the Respect@Work bill.

We wish all our listeners a Merry Christmas and look forward to bringing you more employment law podcasts in 2023.

An employment contract is an integral part of the employment relationship. Contracts can exist in a non-written form, however the purpose of a written contract is to define the terms of what is being agreed, to avoid things getting lost in translation, or over time, forgotten.

In this episode of our two part series, we discuss what we believe are the 9 critical express terms that should be included in a contract of employment, and why, being:

1. Notice of termination
2. Types of employment
3. Place of work
4. Remuneration
5. Hours of work
6. Off-set
7. Entire agreement clauses
8. Position descriptions
9. Clauses to survive the termination of employment

Stay with us for "To Tweet or Not To Tweet"; where the team competes for the most tweetable of employment law news.

In this episode, we discuss workplace risks associated with employee social media use, including egregious misuse, and provide some practical steps employers can take to minimise those risks.

We also bring you our new segment ‘Would you tweet that?’, where the team is challenged to come up with the most tweetable tweets of employment law news; and we give a final wrap up of our legal movie reviews … which movie came out on top?

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has recently released its strategic priorities for the 2022-23 period, with fast food, restaurants/cafes, and agriculture key industries of focus. Added to the list is the universities sector, with the FWO concerned about allegations of long-running underpayments in many universities, citing management oversight, decentralised HR functions and lack of investment in payroll and time-recording systems as the trending causes of non-compliance. 

With possible increased funding from the new Labor government, we may also see higher levels of enforcement, making employee underpayments (intentional or accidental) something employers should be concerned about.

In this podcast, we discuss the civil penalty provisions for corporations and directors for contraventions under the Fair Work Act, the functions of the FWO, and how employers may come under their radar. We also discuss where we see the vast majority of underpayments in respect of breaches of modern awards and the National Employment Standards, and key areas for employers to look at.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly has been replaced by a new segment; "Would you Tweet This?", a challenge for the team to come up with the most 'tweet worthy' of topical employment law news. Our movie review returns with this episode featuring "The Firm", starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Gene Hackman.

This podcast is the second part of our series discussing managing absent employees.

In this episode we address the management of employees that have had a long term absence due to personal injury or illness. We discuss how to take the next steps, the legal risks, and the procedures that need to be followed when it becomes apparent that the inherent requirements of the role can't be met. 

This is a complex and high risk area of law and employers are advised to proceed with caution and seek legal advice for their specific situation. 

We also bring you "The Good, the Bad and The Ugly" of recent employment law news, and our movie review returns with a resounding thumbs up for the 1957 American courtroom drama "12 Angry Men".

This podcast is the first of a two part series where we discuss managing absent employees.

This first episode looks at how businesses can best manage short term or sporadic employee absences from work, to minimise the impact on the business whilst protecting employee rights.

In the second episode, we take this further and discuss the more serious aspect of managing longer term employee absences that may be the result of illness or injury.

This week we also bring you "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", our regular current affairs segment of recent employment law.

Managing employee performance, both teams and individuals, is critical to a business' success. Failure to act early and decisively in the case of underperforming employees can be a costly mistake that employers make.

In this podcast we discuss the key elements of managing performance, both practical and legal, choices available for employers, and some pitfalls to look out for.

We also bring you "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" of recent employment law news, and our legal movie review this episode is "My Cousin Vinny", starring Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei and Ralph Macchio.

Warning: This podcast contains coarse language which may be offensive to some listeners.

We address swearing at work, and in particular, whether swearing can be grounds for disciplinary consequences.

We also bring you "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" of recent employment law news, and our legal film review returns, with this episode featuring "The Rainmaker"; Francis Ford Coppola's film based on the John Grisham novel and starring Matt Damon and Danny DeVito.

As the NSW government has announced an end to most of the remaining COVID-19 restrictions, including working from home directions, our first podcast for 2022 focusses on flexibility in the workplace.

With workplaces, and employee expectations, very much changed over the last two years, we discuss what the new normal looks like, and the underlying law around flexibility.

For more information, we have also released a newsletter on Flexibility at Work. Follow the link to access - https://www.pcclawyers.com.au/flexibility-at-work/

In this episode we provide guidance on the way forward to normality post lockdown, and provide updates on the Public Health vaccination mandates for certain industries, and employers privately, with some interesting recent court and tribunal decisions. 

'The Good, the Bad and The Ugly' of employment law returns, along with our movie review of 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

In this lockdown edition of our podcast, we discuss the recent ground breaking Fair Work Commission Deliveroo decision, as well as Menulog's adaptation of their engagement model and their application for a new Modern Award. Stay with us at the end for our new segment, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", where we give our take on employment law updates. We'll also be bringing you our review of legal-themed movies, first up is the classic "A Few Good Men".

In this podcast, we expand on our recent e-Publication "Termination of Employment: A Lawful and Ethical Approach", where we look to respond to questions and general commentary around the process and considerations when looking to terminate an employee's employment. 

This month's focus is on Part A of the publication; terminating an employee's employment in relation to employee capacity or conduct. Next month's podcast will cover Part B; termination of employment relating to the role (redundancy). 

For a full copy of the e-Publication, you can download the resource here: https://bit.ly/3crT7CX

In this episode of our podcast we discuss the issues with the industrial relations legislation currently before the Senate, the IR Omnibus Bill, with a focus on the changes to casual employment.

Following a recent unfair dismissal case involving Uber Eats, and their subsequent announcement of their new business model and contracts for delivery drivers, in this podcast we discuss the status of gig economy workers as independent contractors or employees - an issue  that has been challenged in a number of courts and tribunals globally.

This week's episode of Employment Law covers some important issues ahead of the Christmas period for employers.

Please note: The content of this podcast is general in nature and provides a summary of the issues covered. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon, as legal or professional advice for specific employment situations. PCC Employment Lawyers recommend that specialist legal advice should be sought about specific legal issues.

On the latest episode of the PCC Lawyers podcast we discuss the potential issues surrounding the legal standings around managing sick or injured employees.

Please note: The content of this podcast is general in nature and provides a summary of the issues covered. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon, as legal or professional advice for specific employment situations. PCC Employment Lawyers recommend that specialist legal advice should be sought about specific legal issues.

Brian, Helen and Jacob return to discuss recent rulings around Political Communication.

Please note: The content of this podcast is general in nature and provides a summary of the issues covered. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon, as legal or professional advice for specific employment situations. PCC Employment Lawyers recommend that specialist legal advice should be sought about specific legal issues.

This week's episode covers the topic of Flexible Work Requests.

Please note: The content of this podcast is general in nature and provides a summary of the issues covered. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon, as legal or professional advice for specific employment situations. PCC Employment Lawyers recommend that specialist legal advice should be sought about specific legal issues.

The latest episode from PCC Lawyers covers the topic of genuine redundancy. 

Please note: The content of this podcast is general in nature and provides a summary of the issues covered. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon, as legal or professional advice for specific employment situations. PCC Employment Lawyers recommend that specialist legal advice should be sought about specific legal issues.

Welcome to the first instalment of our PCC Podcast. Episode 1 covers the issues around casual employment and the recent changes to the law that have created a level of confusion amongst employers and employees alike.

The content of this podcast is general in nature and provides a summary of the issues covered. It is not intended to be, nor should it be relied upon, as legal or professional advice for specific employment situations. PCC Employment Lawyers recommend that specialist legal advice should be sought about specific legal issues.