Topic
20 articles from our Tips & Trends archive.
The Australia Day public holiday falls on Monday, 26 January 2026 and planning on how do deal with roster patterns that require work on this day should nearly be finalized by now.
Read more
FWC recently in Paper Australia Pty Ltd Trading as Opal Australian Paper v Anthony May [2025] FWCFB 224 confirmed that an employer cannot rely on an enterprise agreement to override an employee’s right to request flexible work under the National Employment Standards (NES).
Read more
Possibly? The Federal Court recently delivered its much anticipated judgment in what everyone is calling the Woolworths and Coles decision. This decision has already received unprecedented media attention and has broad implications for: offsetting, annualised salaries, record-keeping obligations and the strict requirements for varying Award conditions.
Read more
No. The proposed Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 was recently tabled in Parliament with the intention of protecting penalty rates and overtime rates in Modern Awards only.
Read more
No. The FWC increase (if applicable) is payable on the “first full pay period” after 1 July 2025. This means that the FWC increase will be implemented differently for each Employer depending on their usual ‘pay day’.
Read more
It depends on the employment contract/EA. For this reason, the outcome may vary for individuals – so check your documents carefully!
Read more
FWC approved a 3.50% increase in all Award rates and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) which takes effect from the first full pay period after 1 July 2025. The decision will lift the NMW from $24.10 to $24.95 an hour or $915.90 to $948.00 a week based on a 38 hour week.
Read more
Minimum pay rates for introductory classification or entry-level employees under some Modern Awards may go up on the first full pay period on or after: 1 January 2025 1 April 2025 for employees under the Horticulture Award and Pastoral Award.
Read more
The FWC increase (if applicable) is payable on the “first full pay period” after 1 July 2024. This means that the FWC increase will be implemented differently for each Employer depending on their usual ‘pay day’.
Read more
It depends on the employment contract/EA. For this reason, every individual might have a different outcome – so check your contracts!
Read more
FWC approved a 3.75% increase in all Award rates and the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
Read more
The Closing Loopholes legislation sought to provide further clarity to the vexed issue concerning ‘regular’ Casuals. It hasn’t.
Read more
Last week the High Court confirmed that employees must be given a choice as to whether they will agree or refuse to work on a public holiday. This now settles the law in this area.
Read more
Both employers and employees may not be entirely happy with the decision – neither got what they wanted - but it is likely that FWC will consider they reached an appropriate ‘middle ground’ in increasing the minimum wages in all modern awards by 5.75% from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July 2023.
Read more
It depends on who you ask. Most Employer groups have cautioned that the Secure Jobs Act's single-interest bargaining provisions will give unions much greater power and put all employers at risk of being captured by the regime. The loss of control of specific terms for an enterprise agreement is a legitimate concern because it has the capacity to reduce an employer’s competitive advantages.
Read more
Employers currently covered by a pre-2010 workplace agreement (Zombie Agreement) are required to notify their employees by 6 June 2023 that the Zombie Agreement (being the source of their minimum entitlements) will be terminated by 7 December 2023.
Read more
Yes. Whilst the pressure has been on business to upgrade nominally expired enterprise agreements and particularly those pre-Fair Work agreements (Zombie Agreements) since FWC has taken more interventionist approach regarding their termination, the new Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 (Bill) will only further compound such interventionist approaches.
Read more
Peak union body the ACTU has indicated it will pursue a 5% increase across all award rates in this year’s minimum wage review, citing the need to compensate workers for cost of living pressures.
Read more
The recent decision of Victorian Ambulance Union Incorporated v Health Select Pty Ltd t/a Health Select [2021] FWC 1434, 31 March 2021 in which the parties were ordered under the good faith bargaining (GFB) provisions back to the bargaining table has been welcomed by unions and criticised by employers.
Read more
Tips & Trends
You will get short, relevant articles on topical areas with actionable steps and real commentary.
