employee

Casual employment changes

On 26 August 2024, there are more casual employment changes for employers to consider:

  1. a new definition of “casual employee” comes into effect;
  2. casual employees will have the right to request to convert their casual employment to a permanent one after 6 months (instead of 12 months); and
  3. Casual employee information statements have to be provided more often

New definition of casual employment

From 26 August 2024, a new definition of casual employment in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) applies as follows:

“An employee is only a casual where:

(a)  there is no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work, considering a number of factors, including the real substance, practical reality, and true nature of the employment relationship, and

(b)  they are entitled to receive casual loading or a specific casual pay rate.”

This is a substantial move away from the prior position in s.15A of the Act following the High Court of Australia’s judgment in Workpac Ltd v Rossato & Ors [2021] HCA 23 that determinative weight is to given to what was stated in the employment contract. Now there is no single determinative factor of casual employment but rather the substance of the arrangement is to be considered.

Employee choice – casual conversion

Generally, from 26 August 2024, where an employee of a business (other than small businesses) believes they no longer meet the new casual employee definition, they will have the right to request conversion of their casual employment to a permanent one after 6 months instead of 12 months.

Prior to this date, once a casual had been employed for 12 months and was working a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis without significant change in the last 6 months of their employment, the employer had to make a written offer of casual conversion within 21 days of the anniversary of their commencement date and the employee had 21 days to accept or reject it.  Similarly, a casual could request it and the employer could only reject it within 21 days on reasonable grounds or if the employee didn’t meet the regular pattern requirement.

For small business employers, from 26 February 2025, casual employees will have the right to request to convert their casual employment to a permanent one after 12 months. Prior to this, small business employers did not have to deal with casual conversion requests or offer them at all.

Under the new regime, employers may still refuse but only on grounds that the definition isn’t met or that fair and reasonable operational grounds apply such as that it would have a significant impact on the business, that substantial change to the business is required etc.

Casual Employment Information Statements

From 26 August 2024, the Casual Employment Information Statements will need to be provided to

  • new casual employees before, or as soon as possible after, they start their casual employment
  • all casual employees employed by non-small businesses as soon as possible after
    • 6 months of employment
    • 12 months of employment; and
    • every subsequent 12 months of employment
  • all casual employees of small businesses as soon as possible after 12 months of employment.

Note that there is no change to the requirement for Fair Work Information Statements on commencement of employment.

Steps for employers to take

Employers should urgently:

  1. check the commencement date for all staff and diarise to review obligations each 6 months
  2. send CEIS as required
  3. consider whether employees are in fact casual
  4. consider if conversion offers need to be made
  5. if necessary, issue updated Contracts of Employment

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, contact McKillop Legal on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

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in Commercial Law / Dispute Resolution / Employment  by 01 Aug 2024 0 comments

What is redundancy?

If an employer no longer needs a role to be performed or doesn’t need the same number of employees to perform certain tasks, then an employee’s position can be made “redundant”.

Reasons for redundancy can include:

  • the job the employee is doing is being replaced by new technology/machinery
  • outsourcing tasks to contractors
  • an slow down affecting the business
  • a restructure or reorganization of the business or a merger or takeover taking place
  • the business stopping trading

Redundancy may or may not however, result in an obligation on the employer to pay the affected employee ‘redundancy pay’ (sometimes called ‘severance pay’). This, and the amount, depends on:

  • the length of employment
  • the employer’s size
  • whether the employee can be redeployed
  • the terms of the:
    • employee’s employment contract
    • any applicable Award or Enterprise Agreement; and
    • the Fair Work Act / National Employment Standards (NES).

An employee must have been employed for 12 months or more for redundancy pay to even be considered.

If the employer employs less than 15 (full time or full time equivalent, not casual) employees at the time of dismissal, then there is no entitlement for redundancy pay, unless your Award, Contract or Enterprise Agreement provides for it.

If there is no other position the employee could be redeployed into or if an offer to do so is not accepted, the amount of redundancy pay can be reduced, or even removed.

Redundancy pay is based on ordinary rates of pay (so it doesn’t include bonuses, commission, overtime, loadings, allowances etc).

If redundancy pay is payable, then the table in the NES applies.

Often there is a requirement for employee consultation regarding major workplace changes that could result in dismissal.

If a redundancy is not “genuine”, then issues of potential unfair dismissal can arise. If an employee is made redundant but, for example, someone else is hired at the time or soon thereafter to perform their duties, then the redundancy is not genuine.

Even if no redundancy pay is payable, notice (or payment in lieu thereof) is still required as the employment is being terminated (in addition to payment for all accrued employee entitlements).

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, please contact McKillop Legal on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au 

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

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in Asset Protection / Business / Commercial Law / Dispute Resolution / Employment  by 01 Apr 2023 0 comments

Are your employment contracts up to scratch?

All employers ought to have in place robust Employment Contracts for all employees, whether they are casual, part time, full time, interns, seasonal or fixed term and provide the appropriate information statement/s.

For those employers that have a template/base contract or for those that intend to update their contracts, say for example after a promotion, role change or pay increase, then this information is relevant for you.

The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 among other things imposed:

  • a prohibition on pay secrecy clauses;
  • limits on the ability to use fixed-term contracts; and
  • changes to flexible working arrangement request processing.

Pay secrecy

Sensibly, most standard form employment contracts contain confidentiality provisions including clauses that prohibit employees from disclosing their remuneration to other employees or anyone other than professional advisors such as lawyers, financial advisors and accountants.

Those clauses are no longer allowed and are not binding and employees now have a workplace right to share information about their remuneration or employment terms as they see fit.

Employers need to remove such clauses from new contracts entered into after 06 December 2022. Penalties can apply for breaches.

Fixed term contracts

From 06 December 2023, all employees on fixed-term contract (or consecutive shorter fixed term contracts) exceeding 2 years duration (or where there is more than one renewal even if less than 2 years duration) will be treated as continuing contracts, unless they fall within one of the limited exceptions in the Act or in a Modern Award.

Such employees will be entitled to unfair dismissal rules as part time and full time employees are. Penalties can apply for breaches.

Flexible work arrangements

The Fair Work Act (FW Act) contains a right for certain employees (eg, over 55s, those with disabilities, carers of young children or dependents or those involved with family violence) to request flexible working arrangements. Employers are obliged to consider those requests, but may refuse requests on reasonable business grounds.

From 06 June 2023, if an employer refuses a request or ignores it for greater than 21 days, then the fair Work Commission can intervene, direct arbitration and even make orders.

Employment contracts or workplace policies should be updated to include as much information as possible about the nature of the role, essential requirements etc, so employees understand what areas of flexibility may be feasible and what requests will reasonably be refused.

Workplace policies

In addition to having up to date and relevant Employment Contracts, employers also should have in place appropriate Workplace Policies. These can apply to employees as well as contractors to a business.

These can cover other issues such as the extension of areas of discrimination and harassment in the FW Act so employers can reasonably argue that all reasonable steps have been taken by them to prevent the discrimination or harassment.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, please contact McKillop Legal on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au 

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

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in Business / Dispute Resolution / Employment / General / Risk management  by 01 Jan 2023 0 comments

What is a Confidentiality Agreement?

A Confidentiality Agreement (also known as a Non-Disclosure Agreement or NDA) is a legal contract, which should be used when sensitive information needs to be shared between two parties. It helps to ensure that the person or organisation that gains access to sensitive information doesn’t disclose it to a third party. Often the agreement is in form of a Deed.

NDAs are often used:

  • to protect confidential information or trade secrets;
  • as a precursor document to intellectual property use (such as patents) or where contractors are to assist developing new products or ideas (such as a new App);
  • for parties to be able to disclose sensitive information such as in the due diligence stages of a possible business sale or asset sale; or
  • even as part of employment contracts where employees may used the protected information during their employment and only for the purposes of furthering the employer’s business.

The obligations in a Confidentiality Agreement can last for a specified period of time or can be indefinite in their operation. The Coca-Cola recipe, for example, has been kept secret for well over 100 years.

The document would generally state why the information is being shared (without actually disclosing the confidential information being protected!) and the measures to be taken to ensure it remains confidential and is not used for any reason other than the stated purpose.

Where both parties are disclosing information to each other, a two-way or mutual NDA can be used to protect both the disclosing parties.

Without a proper and enforceable agreement, the party receiving the information may be able to do whatever they like with it. That said, just because you have an agreement, doesn’t mean it will be followed. Confidentiality Agreements also often deal with the consequences of misuse or unauthorized disclosure.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, please contact McKillop Legal on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au 

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

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in Asset Protection / Business / Commercial Law / Dispute Resolution / Employment / Intellectual Property / Risk management  by 01 Oct 2022 0 comments

Termination of employment

There are 4 main reasons for an termination of employment:

  1. Misconduct (breaching the terms of the employment such as not following a reasonable and lawful direction or policy)
  2. Performance  (lack of skill, care, diligence etc)
  3. Capacity (not fulfilling the inherent requirements of their role)
  4. Redundancy (the employee genuinely no longer needs the employee’s role to be done by anyone, or the employer becomes insolvent/bankrupt)

The first thing to look at in any employment-related issue is the Employment Contract itself (as well as any relevant Award or industrial agreement) and depending on the issue, any relevant Workplace Policies or directions/notes on the employee’s file.

If the employee:

  • is a casual;
  • has not been employed for more the prescribed period (6-12 months);
  • was employed for an agreed fixed term or to perform a specific task; or
  • is on probation,

then termination of the employee is usually simple however, where these don’t apply, then the employee may potentially bring or threaten an:

  • unlawful dismissal claim; or
  • unfair dismissal claim.

Casuals

Given the nature of an ad hoc arrangement, casual employees usually don’t have to give any (or much) notice, and the same goes for the employer.

Generally, there is nothing a casual employee can do if they are terminated unless they have been employed for at least 6 months (or 12 months for a small business – see below), except if it was for an unlawful reason. Then the “general protections” in the Fair Work Act can come into play.

Fixed term agreement

If the employment was for a defined or fixed term and that time has ended, then they will not have been “dismissed”.

Probation

Often, the Employment Contract will have a probationary period in which the employee or the employer can terminate without providing any reason on short notice.

Probationary periods are usually 3-6 months, but can be extended.

GENERAL PROTECTIONS DISMISSAL (UNLAWFUL TERMINATTION) 

The Fair Work Act sets out several “general protections” to prevent employees being dismissed for things (each known as an “adverse action“) such as:

  • discriminatory reasons such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, mental disability, marital status, family or carer’s responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin etc (unless an inherent requirement of the job)
  • being absent from work because of illness, injury or parental leave
  • performing emergency volunteer work
  • union membership
  • making a complaint or commencing legal action against the employer or exercising a workplace right

Fines can apply for such dismissals in addition to reinstatement and payment of lost wages or salary.

Unlawful dismissal/adverse action claims must be brought within 21 days of the dismissal.

UNFAIR DISMISSAL

Where:

  • an employee has in excess of 6 months of service (or 12 months where the employer is a small business);
  • the employee’s income is below the high income threshold (compensation cap); and
  • the employee’s employment is covered by a modern Award or enterprise agreement, then

unfair dismissal can come into play if the employee’s dismissal was “harsh, unjust or unreasonable” (in the circumstances, considering the reason/s and the process followed) or if the employee felt they had no choice but to resign following such conduct (called “constructive dismissal“).

A termination is not unfair (and it is a complete defence to an unfair dismissal claim) where:

  • a small business follows the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code; or
  • in the case of a genuine redundancy.

Unfair dismissal claims must be brought within 21 days of the dismissal.

Small business exception

Where a business is classified as a “small business” (ie, it has 15 of fewer full time equivalent (including several part time staff but excluding contractors) employees, liability for unfair dismissal is removed where the small business employer has complied with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code.

The Small Business Fair Dismissal Code Checklist sets out a simple and fair process to follow at termination.

Redundancy

A redundancy is “genuine” where the employer:

  • no longer requires the employee’s job to be performed by anyone because of changes in the operational requirements of the employer’s business;
  • has complied with any obligation in a modern Award or enterprise agreement that requires consultation about the redundancy; an
  • has considered if it would have been reasonable in all the circumstance for the employee to be redeployed within the employer’s business or any associated enterprise.

Additional payment called redundancy pay is payable in addition to notice and unpaid entitlements, such as annual leave etc.

NOTICE

When terminating employment (including for redundancy), the correct period of notice must be given, or payment in lieu if allowed as per the National Employment Standards and the Employment Contract.

An exception to this is “summary dismissal” (on the spot termination, without notice) when the employer believes on reasonable grounds that the employee’s conduct is sufficiently serious to justify immediate dismissal – usually for serious misconduct (theft, fraud, assault, sexual harassment, serious breaches of workplace health and safety rules and procedures or refusing to carry out a lawful and reasonable instruction that is part of the role.

MANAGING TERMINATION RISKS

Where termination is being considered, the employer must have a good reason for the termination and follow procedural fairness in the process.

Where poor performance is the issue, the employee ought to:

  • be informed of the issue, told what is expected and advised of the likely consequence of not improving -eg, termination) and be given a reasonable time to improve; and
  • have a reasonable opportunity to consider and respond to such allegations (and improve).

Where misconduct is involved (other than serious misconduct):

  • the employer ought to be able to point to specific terms of the employment or clear policies as to the conduct required (except where such poor conduct goes without saying); and
  • a proper investigation ought to take place, with the employee having a proper opportunity for the employee to respond to such matters.

Capacity being in issue is often self-evident, such as not being able to do a job – for example a professional licence or vocational qualification lapsing.

Consider how other employees had been dealt in the past with for similar conduct and the position, past conduct and length of service of the employee also.

Keep detailed records of warnings, meetings and counselling (3 warnings are not always required)

The employee should have opportunity to have a support person at interviews and the employer may want a second person (a witness) present.

Maintain a level of professionalism and give notice of termination in writing.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, please contact McKillop Legal on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au 

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

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in Business / Commercial Law / Dispute Resolution / Employment / General  by 01 Jul 2022 0 comments

New laws for casual employees

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) has been amended with effect from 27 March 2021 in relation to casual employees.

Here are the 4 practical steps that most employers should take to help ensure compliance with the Act and prevent disputes from arising with their casual employees:

1.            Casual Employment Information Statement

The Fair Work Ombudsman has now made available a new Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS). Both new and existing casual employees must be given a CEIS.

From 27 March 2021, all employers must give every new casual employee a CEIS before, or as soon as possible after, they commence their employment.

Small business employers (those with less than 15 employees) must give their existing casual employees (those employed before 27 March 2021) a copy of the CEIS as soon as possible after 27 March 2021.   All other employers must give their existing casual employees a copy of the CEIS as soon as possible after 27 September 2021.

Note that the CEIS does not replace the Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS). The FWIS is still required to be provided to every new employee (casual employees should receive both the FWIS and the new CEIS).

2.            Update casual employment contracts

The Act now includes a definition of ‘casual’ employee. Under the new definition, a person is a casual employee if they accept a job offer from an employer knowing that there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work.

With retrospective effect, the question of whether an employee is a casual is now assessed based on what was agreed when the employment was offered and accepted, not on the pattern of hours later worked or some other subsequent conduct occurring during the course of their employment.

Employment contracts for casuals, if they don’t already, should:

  • state that the employment is casual;
  • specify that the employer can elect to offer work and that the employee can elect to accept or reject it; and
  • confirm that there is no guarantee of ongoing or regular work and that the employee will only work as required.

3.            Specify the casual loading in employment contracts and payroll documentation

The changes to the Act also remove the ability (which arose from several recent cases such as Workpac v Rossato) for employees to “double-dip” and receive entitlements as permanent staff as well as retaining the casual loading already paid to them (in lieu of such other entitlements).

The amounts actually paid to the employee as casual loading operate as a reduction to, or are set off against, of any amount that may later be determined to be payable by the employer for permanent employee entitlements.

Casual employment contracts thus should:

  • clarify that the employee is paid a casual loading (usually 25%) and that the loading is paid on the basis that the employee is not entitled to relevant permanent employment entitlements such as annual leave, paid personal leave, redundancy pay and the like; and
  • identify the dollar amount of the loading from the base hourly rate where possible.

Further, payroll documentation (including payslips) should separately identify the dollar value of the casual loading paid in each pay period.

4.            Identify eligibility for casual conversions

Once employed as a casual, an employee will continue to be a casual until they either:

a)       become a permanent employee through:

(i)            casual conversion, or

(ii)           are offered (and accept the offer of) full-time or part-time employment, or

b)      stop being employed by the employer.

Although many employers had pre-existing casual conversion obligations in relevant Modern Awards or enterprise agreements, these casual conversion provisions are now included in the National Employment Standards (NES), which means that now employers that were not historically subject to such conversion obligations are subject to the casual conversion pathway regime. Small business employers (with fewer than 15 employees) are not subject to these rules.

The new provisions require employers to offer permanent employment to any casual employee who has:

  • been employed for 12 months; and
  • worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis for at least the last 6 months of that period; and
  • the employee could continue working those hours as a permanent employee without significant change.

An employer need not make an offer of casual conversion if there are “reasonable grounds” not to, based on facts that are known or reasonably foreseeable (such as where the employee’s position will cease to exist within 12 months, the hours of work that employee is required to perform in the following 12 months will be significantly reduced or the employee’s availability cannot accommodate the significant change in the employees’ hours/days required to be worked).

During the 6-month transition period ending 27 September 2021 and from then on, employers should identify any employees that may meet the criteria for conversion and make an offer of casual conversion to an eligible employee within 21 days of the employee attaining 12 months of employment. There is a form and process relating to the offer (and its acceptance).

FURTHER INFORMATION

Craig Pryor is principal solicitor at McKillop Legal. For further information in relation to any employment related issue or any business/commercial law matter, contact Craig Pryor on (02) 9521 2455 or email craig@mckilloplegal.com.au

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

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in Business / Dispute Resolution / Employment / General / Litigation / Risk management  by 01 Apr 2021 0 comments

Is your business using the correct form of Fair Work Information Statement?

On 13 August 2020, the High Court of Australia handed down a decision about the method of accruing and taking paid personal/carer’s leave under the National Employment Standards.

The case was Mondolez Australia Pty Ltd v AMWU, which overturned a decision made by the Full Federal Court in August 2019 that could have resulted in significant claims for backpay and contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) as its effect included that part-time employees are entitled to 10 days’ paid personal leave per year (the same as a full time employee), regardless of the number of days actually worked.

The High Court found that the entitlement to 10 days of personal/carer’s leave is calculated based on an employee’s hours worked, not days when interpreting s.96(1) of the Act such that a ‘day’ refers to a notional day, consisting of 1/10th of an employee’s ordinary hours of work in a 2 week period. Accordingly, 10 days of personal leave can be calculated as 1/26 of an employee’s ordinary hours of work in a year.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has updated the form of Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS) as a result.

Employees need to ensure they provide the correct form of FWIS to all new employees. Is your business using the correct form of Fair Work Information Statement?

FURTHER INFORMATION

For more information, please contact McKillop Legal on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au to discuss your needs.

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice.

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in Business / Commercial Law / Dispute Resolution / Employment / General / Risk management  by 20 Aug 2020 0 comments

Coronavirus: JobKeeper subsidy

Further to our COVID-19 blogs on employee standdowns and negotiating changes to commercial leases but in this post, the Government on 30 March 2020 announced a $130 billion JobKeeper payment system to help keep more Australians in jobs and support businesses affected by the significant economic impact caused by the Coronavirus. Those workers that are covered by the scheme will receive a fortnightly payment of $1,500 (before tax) through their employer. Employers are to pay their employees and then get reimbursed by the Government later.

The payment is intended to ensure that eligible employers remain connected to their workforce so that businesses are in a position to restart quickly when the pandemic is over.

To get the payments, employers must be eligible and the employees must be eligible.

If your business has been significantly impacted by the Coronavirus (generally able to show a 30% decline in turnover in the relevant month or quarter relative to a year earlier), the business will be able to access a wages subsidy for a maximum of 6 months to assist you to continue paying its employees.

Eligible employees are those who:

  • are currently employed by the eligible employer (including those stood down or re-hired);
  • were employed by the employer at 1 March 2020;
  • are full-time, part-time or a casual employed on a regular basis for longer than 12 months as at 01 March 2020;
  • are at least 16 years of age;
  • are an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, or a Special Category (Subclass 444) Visa Holder; and
  • are not in receipt of a JobKeeper Payment from another employer.

To register your business’s interest in the JobKeeper system, visit the Australian Taxation Office’s dedicated page.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information in relation to legal issues arising from Coronavirus or if you need to discuss how to best deal with employment issues, please contact us on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au.

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your legal concerns or objectives.

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in Business / Commercial Law / Employment / Insolvency & Bankruptcy / Litigation / Risk management  by 30 Mar 2020 0 comments

Coronavirus: Employees and standdowns

Many businesses are struggling at present with the turndown in sales that are a consequence of the Government’s social distancing rules to help slow down the spread of COVID-19. Those businesses are seeking to minimise costs so as to be able to survive until the Coronavirus heath crisis ends, which appears to be at least 6 months away.

The 2 biggest expenses in business are generally rent and employee/payroll. In another blog post, we discuss how lessors and lessees can negotiate mutually beneficial but generally temporary changes to their commercial leases but in this post, we discuss employee issues.

Options for employers

It is always an option for employers and employees to agree on things such as:

  • working remotely;
  • reduced hours;
  • reduced pay; or
  • taking leave (either accrued or in advance).

Where a business is unable to agree with their staff as to such matters, or if the business needs to significantly and quickly reduce costs or go into hibernation and not just change the way it goes about its business, the first point of reference in relation to the employer/employee relationship is the Employment Contract, followed by any relevant Award. If an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement or EBA applies, then that is the place to look.

Casuals and those on probation are unfortunately the first to be let go as employers seek to minimise costs. This article assumes full time or part time employment.

Often, employment contracts have provisions that allow for the standing down of employees where there is not enough work to keep them engaged.

Assuming there is such a right, then if there is work they can do (even if not their normal role), they can be redeployed but if not, the standdown option generally would be available.

Standdowns are periods where the employment relationship is still in place but there is no payment made by the employer.

So as to keep paying employees at such a time when a standdown is warranted, a business could for example give notice of a requirement to take any accrued annual leave and possibly accrued long service leave. Taking leave in advance is also an option but it does not assist the business as it is still incurring the wage costs and the employees are then in debt to their employer for leave taken but not yet earned.

A benefit to the business of paying out leave entitlements is that this also reduces the businesses’ leave liability in its books (and the benefit to the employee is still getting paid). Note that the payment of leave loading (if leave loading is required by any Award or agreement) is also required when leave is being taken. There is generally no such payment of loading if leave is taken in advance).

Employment contracts or Awards may provided for a period of notice for a standdown but in the absence of that, reasonable notice should suffice.

Where it is not covered in any other document, s.524 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) can apply. It provides:

(1)  An employer may … stand down an employee during a period in which the employee cannot usefully be employed because of one of the following circumstances:

 …

(c)  a stoppage of work for any cause for which the employer cannot reasonably be held responsible.

Where an employer simply faces a reduction in trade volumes or where it is merely uneconomical to continue to employ staff, it can be a grey area as to whether this is considered a “stoppage” of work for the purposes of the legislation however, where an industry has been shut down as a result of a ministerial direction or public health orders, it will generally be uncontested.

Whilst on stand down:

  • annual leave, personal leave and long service continue to accrue;
  • employees can access personal and carer’s leave (provided they comply with notice and evidence requirements); and
  • employees must be paid for public holidays where it would ordinarily fall on a day they have been stood down.

The main thing to note is that on a standdown, the employees are not being terminated or made redundant – the role is still there, just they can’t be usefully engaged. It may be that termination or redundancy is still an option but it is generally a last resort.

NOTE: Since this blogpost, the Government has announced the JobKeeper subsidy.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information in relation to legal issues arising from Coronavirus or if you need to discuss how to best deal with employment issues in light of the current health crisis, please contact us on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au.

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your legal concerns or objectives.

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in Business / Commercial Law / Dispute Resolution / Employment / General / Litigation / Risk management  by 25 Mar 2020 0 comments

Are you hiring an Employee or a Contractor?

Are you hiring an employee or a contractor? This is an important question often overlooked by business owners.

What is the difference between an employee and a contractor?

The difference between an employee and an independent contractor is based on many different factors. No single factor determines whether someone is an employee or a contractor. Instead, the Courts will look at each case and make a decision based on the totality of the relationship between the parties when determining the status of an engagement.

There are some common factors that may contribute to determining whether a person is an ‘employee’ or an ‘independent contractor’ (or ‘contractor’ or ‘sub-contractor‘):

Employees

Employees generally:

  • do not operate independently of the business engaging them
  • are directed in how and when to perform their work
  • cannot delegate their work to someone else or pay someone else to do it
  • are paid per hour, project or a commission
  • are provided with all tools and equipment required to perform their work or gets an allowance to provide these things
  • take no commercial risks – the business is responsible for the work performed or fixing any issues with it
  • have an expectation of continuing work (except casuals)
  • are generally not employed by other businesses at the same time (at least for most full time employees)

Contractors

Contractors on the other hand:

  • do operate independently of the business engaging them
  • have freedom as to how and when to perform work, subject to the terms of the arrangement
  • may delegate or further subcontract out their work, subject to the terms of the agreement (Services Agreement or Contractor Agreement etc)
  • are paid for a result or outcome, even if this is on an hourly rate basis, a commission arrangement or per project
  • supply most of their own tools and equipment
  • are liable for the work performed and are liable to remedy or pay the costs of fixing any defects
  • are responsible for their own employees and sub-contractors
  • are usually engaged for a specific task or purpose
  • may accept or seek work from other businesses

Other differences in their rights and the obligations or the employer or principal include:

  • Independent contractors issue invoices (or tax invoices if registered for GST) whereas employees are paid regularly (weekly, fortnightly or monthly).
  • Employees are entitled to the benefit of the rights under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) and any relevant Award or industrial agreement (including for things such as leave, overtime etc) as well as having the compulsory superannuation contribution paid to their superannuation fund.
  • Employees have tax withheld and paid on their behalf to the Australian Taxation Office where as an independent contractor will pay their own tax to the ATO (and GST if registered for GST).

What if you get it wrong?

If you pay someone as a contractor when they are really an employee, the employee may miss out on important benefits such as leave entitlements and superannuation. Although you may have paid the agreed rates or price and any applicable GST, the employee may be able to pursue the business that engaged them for those unpaid entitlements and the employer may be prosecuted. Also, if the “contractor” doesn’t pay tax, the employer may be liable for the tax that ought to have been withheld.

Many businesses that deliberately arrange in “sham contracting” (where a person ought to be an employee but they are engaged and remunerated as a contractor) are penalized by the Fair Work Ombudsman under the FW Act.

Another unexpected consequence can be that where those engaged as independent contractors are not actually independent at all (for example where they do not provide services to any other businesses) or are really employees can be the issue of payroll tax payable to Revenue NSW under Payroll Tax Act 2007 (NSW). Contractors can be deemed employees for the purpose of payroll tax if they don’t offer their services to the general public, working only for one business.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Craig Pryor is principal solicitor at McKillop Legal. For further information in relation to any employment related issue or any business/commercial law matter, contact Craig Pryor on (02) 9521 2455 or email craig@mckilloplegal.com.au

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

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in Business / Dispute Resolution / Employment / General / Risk management / Superannuation / Tax Planning  by 01 Apr 2019 0 comments
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