Recommendations from the inquiry into sham contracting
30 November, 2011Sham contracting occurs when an employer attempts to disguise an employment relationship as an independent contracting relationship, to avoid obligatory rates of pay and other entitlements, and gain an unfair competitive advantage.
A case of mistaken redundancy payment
16 November, 2011 by Alison Baker, Karl Rozenbergs and Mark Dunphy, Hall & WillcoxA recent case reminds employers of the importance of reviewing employees’ contracts, enterprise agreements and any applicable modern awards to assess an employee’s entitlement to any severance payments, including notice and redundancy.
Third safety prosecution in four years for Colac timber-processing company
16 November, 2011Colac-based AKD Softwoods, which has received more than 100 safety improvement notices over less than a decade, has been convicted and fined $70,000 for failing to comply with a safety improvement notice and having an unguarded machine which injured a worker.
Geelong business convicted and fined $160,000
04 November, 2011A Geelong-based manufacturer of prefabricated house frames has pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to provide a safe workplace and failing to provide training and supervision to employees.
Engineering company fined after fumes overcome worker in confined space
02 November, 2011A heavy engineering company has been convicted and fined more than $26,000 following an incident in which a worker was overcome by fumes while working in a confined space.
Social media in the workplace - is anything private?
24 October, 2011 by Christine Broad*If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third-most populated, with over 400,000,000 users. So it would not be news to anyone that the use of social media is growing: Socialnomics 2011 claims that over 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years old, and 96% of them have joined a social networking site. Further, the fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55- to 65-year-old females. However, what seems to come as a surprise to many employees is that what they post on social media sites can get them into all sorts of trouble - including termination of their employment.
Fonterra convicted and fined $300,000
19 October, 2011Unsafe storage has resulted in an industry-wide warning from WorkSafe after dairy products manufacturer Fonterra Australia was convicted and fined $300,000 in the Melbourne County Court.
Third prosecution over workplace death in Victoria
13 October, 2011A drilling rig supervisor who told an inexperienced 21-year-old man to drive a truck with defective brakes and no seatbelt down a steep slope before the vehicle crashed, killing the driver, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison and suspended for three years.
Fake psychologist jailed
06 October, 2011Dusan Milosevic, who arrived in Australia from Serbia in 1996, provided a false Bachelor Degree and a Masters Degree to the Psychologists Registration Board of Victoria for registration as a psychologist in 1998.
Worker’s fall leads to fine
31 August, 2011Two companies have been convicted and fined over an incident in Melbourne’s north that left a man with serious injuries after falling nearly four metres from an unguarded conveyor belt.
Santos fined for Moomba gas blast
23 August, 2011Santos has been fined more than $80,000 by the SA Industrial Relations Court after being convicted of safety shortcomings that led to an explosion at its Moomba gas processing facility on New Year’s Day in 2004.
Operator fined over show ride injuries
06 July, 2011An amusement ride operator has been convicted and fined more than $36,000 in the SA Industrial Relations Court over an incident in which two girls were injured at the 2006 Royal Adelaide Show.
OneSteel fined over arc flash incident
15 June, 2011Steel Manufacturer OneSteel has been convicted and fined over an “ad hoc work method”.
Company director convicted over injury to employee
27 May, 2011A company director and his partner were prosecuted by SafeWork SA.
Identifying the primary duty holder under the Work Health and Safety Act
04 May, 2011 by Barry Sherriff and Michael Tooma, Norton Rose LawyersThe Model Work Health and Safety Act will commence in each jurisdiction in Australia from 1 January 2012. A key change to be made by the Model Act will be to move away from reliance on the employment relationship as the determinant of who has duties and obligations and who is to be protected from risks to their health or safety.
