Byline: Simone Caylock

On 30 September 2022, the Prime Minister announced that National Cabinet agreed that from Friday 14 October 2022 there will no longer be a mandatory isolation period for COVID-19. Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that Victoria’s pandemic declaration will come to an end at 11.59pm on Wednesday 12 October, so mandatory isolation will end one day earlier in Victoria.

On 15 June 2022, the Fair Work Commission handed down its 2022 Annual Wage Review decision.

The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) formed the provisional view on 16 May 2022 that modern awards should contain an entitlement to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave (FDV).

The Victorian Government has now extended Mandatory Vaccination requirements for workers until 12 January 2022 under the new suite of Pandemic Orders¹.

Effective from 6pm on Friday 12 November 2021, Victorian employers must sight more than a medical certificate to establish that a worker is exempt from the mandatory vaccination requirements (Vaccination Requirements).

What is the requirement?

From Monday 1 November 2021, if a new onboarding employee does not nominate a preferred superannuation fund (using the Standard Choice Form), the employer is required to ask the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) if there is already a superannuation account linked (stapled) to that employee. If the employee has a stapled fund, the employer must make superannuation contributions to that fund rather than the employer’s default fund.

Following an announcement by the Premier on Friday 1 October, the Victorian Acting Chief Health Officer has now issued Mandatory Vaccination Directions (Directions) that apply to select workers¹ (previously referred to as authorised workers) except those in specific industry groups of healthcare, aged care, construction and education.

On 26 July 2021, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) successfully secured a pecuniary penalty of $21,500 in the Federal Circuit Court against the operator of a long-haul trucking business based in Melbourne for failing to comply with a Compliance Notice requiring back-payments of entitlements to a former truck driver.

Annual Wage Review Decision

On 16 June 2021, the Fair Work Commission handed down its 2021 Annual Wage Review Decision.

Late yesterday, the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (JobKeeper Payments) Amendments Bill 2020 (Bill) to extend the JobKeeper Payment scheme (JobKeeper) announced by the Federal Government in July 2020 was passed by Parliament after Labor and the Greens failed to win support for amendments.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has recently released a Guidance Note (GN 2020/1) which contains information for employers, payroll software providers and intermediaries who may need to change the way they calculate their superannuation guarantee obligations.

There have been a number of developments in recent weeks that all transport and logistics operators with employees need to be aware of.

On 8 April 2020, the Parliament passed legislation to give effect to the Government’s JobKeeper scheme and to amend the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) to give eligible employers greater flexibility to modify employees’ working hours, days, duties and location to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their business and seek to preserve jobs.

Amendments to the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005 (ODFC Act) passed the Victorian Parliament on 12 September 2019, granting greater rights to contractors who own and drive their own vehicles.

With the ever increasing responsibility on companies and their directors and officers to ensure safety and security in the workplace, as well as to ensure compliance with the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), various forms of workplace surveillance are increasingly being used by employers in the transport and logistics industry.

Transport companies often have people working for them, or providing services to them, in a number of different capacities.

The festive season is upon us, with many companies having hosted their end of year celebrations over recent weeks. Although most parties go off without a hitch, sometimes there can be post-event fallout which needs to be addressed.