Recent news

Latest items of recent news relevant to Australia as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’.

Australia: Bonus payment for employees who agreed to pay freeze

Australian airline Qantas Airways has agreed to pay a bonus payment to all employees who agreed to an 18-month pay freeze …

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Australia: Proposed changes to administration of parental leave pay

The government of Australia has put forward the Fairer Paid Parental Leave Bill, which aims to make changes to the processing of paid parental leave payments to reduce the bureaucratic burden on businesses …

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Australia: Updated version of the Fair Work Information Statement

The Fair Work Ombudsman in Australia has published a revised and updated version of the Fair Work Information Statement, which applies as of July 1st 2015 …

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Australia: Travel expenses not subject to Fringe Benefits Tax

Costs incurred by an employer transporting ‘fly-in-fly-out’ employees from their point of hire to the location of a project and back are not subject to fringe benefits tax, according to Australia’s Full Federal Court …

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Australia: Fair Work Commission issues decision on annual leave provisions

As part of its review of modern awards, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in Australia has issued an important decision regarding annual leave …

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Australia: Consultation on the single touch system

The government of Australia is currently consulting with the business community regarding the introduction of the Single Touch Payroll system …

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Australia: Minimum wage increase

The Fair Work Commission has announced that the national minimum wage in Australia will increase by 2 …

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Australia: Record low wage growth

Wage growth has reached a record low in Australia …

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Australia: Termination of expired enterprise agreements

Departing from its normal approach to the termination of expired enterprise agreement, the Australian Fair Work Commission (FWC) recently terminated 12 such agreements …

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Australia: Compulsory health assessment policy found to be unlawful

Australia’s Fair Work Commission recently considered whether an employer was entitled to make their employees undertake mandatory health assessments …

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Australia: Ruling on post-termination misconduct

In a recent case, a Full Bench of the Federal Court of Australia provided clarification on when an employer can justify the summary dismissal of an employee on the basis of alleged cases of misconduct that were discovered after termination of employment …

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Australia: Directors held personally liable for underpayment of wages

In a number of cases brought recently by the Fair Work Ombudsman in Australia, directors have been found personally liable — alongside the company — for underpayment of wages …

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Australia: Changes to the rules on taxation of employee share schemes

Proposed amendments to the taxation of employee share schemes (ESS) have been put before parliament in Australia …

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Australia: Zero-tolerance drug policies supported by court

Zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policies have been strengthened following a decision of the Federal Court of Australia …

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Australia: Wage Price Index figures

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index rose 0 …

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