Fair Work Act Review – don’t expect too much now!
Peter Punch, Partner at Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, provides an initial reaction to the government’s announcement of the details of the Fair Work Act review and argues for conservative expectations of the review. The Terms of Reference for and the membership of the panel to review the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), announced on 20 December 2011, have been [...]
“Phantom” paid annual leave – is it there even though you can’t see it?
Peter Punch, Partner at Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, examines the latest case to comment on special annual leave arrangements and its implications for employers looking for guidance on how to manage their employees’ annual leave. The majority decision of a Full Bench of Fair Work Australia in the recent cases concerning approval of the special annual [...]
Archiving of the CCHatter Blog
Sadly the CCHatter Blog is currently on hiatus. Keep checking our Tax Chat and HR Blog for continued and regular updates and posts.
Acrobats, ducks, elephants, bicycle riders, the smell test…will it ever get easier?
Peter Punch, Partner at Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, explores the ongoing complexity of the “independent contractor v employee” issue and argues that time (and plenty of case law) has not necessarily clarified this vexed issue. I don’t know whether it is just coincidence or a real trend that over the last 12 months or so the number [...]
Anti-social media: extending the employer’s tentacles…
There can be no doubt that social media in the workplace has become a live legal issue: judgments reflect it, company policies address it and we have all heard nightmare stories of comments on social networking sites costing people their job. Peter Punch, Partner at Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, examines a recent social media decision [...]
Long suffering over long service leave
Peter Punch, Partner at Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, explores the government’s latest attempt to standardise long service leave in Australia and the attempts that have been made (and failed) in the past. I noticed that the communiqué coming out of the 85th meeting of the Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council on 10 August 2011 had a short entry advising [...]
Warburton’s case – lessons for employment lawyers
So much has been said about the recent high-profile Warburton case but what should we really take away from this decision? Peter Punch, Partner at Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers, explores the most interesting aspects of the decision. The decision of Justice Pembroke in Seven Network (Operations) Limited & Ors v James Warburton (No 2) is [...]
Enforcement key to the success of the new harmonised laws
Wendy Thompson is a barrister at Denham Chambers with a large OHS practice. Wendy has over 21 years’ experience conducting and defending prosecutions. She spoke to CCH about the various administrative enforcement options under the model Work Health and Safety Bill (WHS Bill) and their significance to the success of the new laws. The WHS [...]
Posted in HR | 
Tags: Denham Chambers, enforceable undertakings, Enforcement, harmonisation, human resources, improvement notices, non-disturbance notices, notices, OHS, prohibition notices, Thompson, undertakings, WHS undertakings | 
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First the iPad, now the iShare – Apple takes a big bite
Apple out of Cupertino, California is never out of the headlines. It’s all in its gravitas, in good times and bad. It’s a new subscription service to publishers of content-based apps.
Great business plan: first flog the tablet computer (iPad) and then deliver the coup de grace.
On 15 February, Apple announced its new subscription service, similar [...]
Manager (non-award): The general misconception
By Trent Dunn There appears to be a general misconception in industry about employees with the title of “Manager” not being covered by a Modern Award. Have you heard the general expression, I am a manager so the Award does not apply to me? In my experience I have heard this and similar expressions all [...]
