Lots has been said recently in the press about enterprise agreement making and the approval process by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). In short, the numbers of agreements being made is down and approval times are “long”. The graph below, recently cited in an AFR article, demonstrates a possible link between approval times slowing and
Cyber restraints of trade in the new era of digital markets
An enforceable restraint of trade can be a key business asset, giving an employer time to recover when a senior employee has left the business for a competitor. Like a good insurance policy, it’s a big relief to have it when you need it.
Australian law regarding restraints of trade has its history in
The data that demonstrates the state of play of enterprise bargaining
In a previous blog, we’ve mentioned the decline of enterprise bargaining in Australia.
Some data to support this follows in this blog. Both agreement numbers and employees covered by in-term agreements are in decline. Point 7 and 8 highlight the challenges faced by parties making agreements and the Fair Work Commission in processing agreement
Collective bargaining: the outlook
In yesterday’s blog, we commented on the state of play in enterprise bargaining in Australia.
So what’s the outlook for enterprise bargaining in Australia? Here’s the top 7:
- Collective bargaining remains unlikely to be the answer for productivity gains – as has been the case for some time. Nor will it deliver the across-the-board wages
The collective bargaining state of play (AKA risk management for employers)
A consistent theme in recent years for both employers and unions is that enterprise bargaining is broken.
The genesis of enterprise bargaining in the mid 1990’s lay in its potential to generate productivity gains at a time when workplaces were strangled by terms and conditions set for whole industries and occupations, divorced from the particular
5 years on – in human resources, industrial relations and workplace health and safety law
On 12 December 2013 Seyfarth Shaw announced our Australian offices were officially open for business. Today marks five years since those doors opened.
What better way to reflect than to ask ourselves, what have been the biggest changes in our specialist areas of law over those five years?
“It has become increasingly difficult to make
The post-employment restraint as a business asset
An enforceable restraint of trade can be a key business asset. Some might think about it as an insurance policy. The capacity to preserve customer connections, protect confidential information and discourage key executives from setting up their own business or moving to a competitor can be critical to information rich businesses operating in a competitive
A glimpse into a future Labor government IR agenda?
A Senate Select Committee report on the Future of Work and Workers handed down this week after a year-long inquiry, gives some insight (which is likely to be startling to most employers) into the likely Labor legislative agenda in the workplace relations space if there is a change of government at the next election.
The
Outsourcing: why the game has changed
Traditionally, alternative labour models – including outsourcing and contracting – have been used by business to defray cost and risk and deal with workflow fluctuations. Today’s environment is creating new challenges for organising and engaging alternative labour. Here’s 5 key reasons why:
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Increased accountability for those at the ‘top’
Changes to the Fair Work Act
A 5 step risk management approach – addressing workplace sexual harassment
Allegations of sexual harassment have dominated headlines, most visibly with the #MeToo campaign.
Sexual harassment complaints, and the laws that attempt to curb the behaviours, are not new. Despite regulation, sexual harassment is still occurring in workplaces. Why?
One answer may be that organisations guard against sexual harassment through policy and lecture style training without