Recent articles
Mental Health and Injuries in the Modern Workplace
On 21 February 2025, Elizabeth Devine will be presenting a paper on 'Strategic Adjustments: Addressing Mental Health and Injuries in the Modern Workplace' at The Education Network's 10th Melbourne Employment Law Conference. In her presentation, [...]
Wage theft laws commence!
On 1 January 2025 the wage theft provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act) commenced. For the first time in Australian employment law, it is a criminal offence for a national system employer to not [...]
Right to Disconnect provisions take effect
The right to disconnect provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act) and in modern awards commenced on 26 August 2024 for businesses with 15 or more employees. In the lead up to the commencement [...]
Casual employment – expanded definition in the Fair Work Act 2009 takes effect
The question of whether a worker is a permanent or casual employee is a perennial issue in Australian employment law. The longstanding law has been that an employee may not be merely labelled a casual [...]
Article Archive
AN ARCHIVE OF ALL THE ARTICLES
Fixed term contracts – the rules have changed
Amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (FWA) which took effect on 7 December 2023 introduce new rules in relation to fixed term contracts. These rules mean that a contract of employment must not include [...]
The end of zombie agreements
Following amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (FWA) in 2022, on 7 December 2023 all 'zombie' enterprise agreements (ZEA) ceased to have legal effect. 'Zombie' agreements are those made before 1 January 2010. As [...]
Too Hot to Handle: Long-Term Injured Employees & Return to Work
On 15 September 2023 Elizabeth Devine had the great pleasure of presenting a paper to the Law Society of Tasmania's Employment Law Conference in Hobart on the topic of 'Too Hot to Handle: Long-Term Injured [...]
Important updates from 1 July 2023 – national minimum wage, unfair dismissal threshold, superannuation
On 1 July 2023 there were changes to some of the key elements of the employment law landscape: the National Minimum Wage increased to $23.23 per hour/$882.80 per week minimum wage rates in Modern Awards [...]
Significant changes to the right to request a flexible working arrangement
Following the commencement of new provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FWA) on 6 June 2023, employers now need to ensure that do more than simply refuse a request for a flexible working arrangement [...]
Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment in Legal Practice
On 30 March 2023 Elizabeth Devine reprised a presentation originally given in November 2022 for the The Education Network on the topic of 'Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment in Legal Practice'. As significant amendments to the [...]
