Workplace warning

By Bridget Brady
CASEY business owners are urged to check recently altered workplace laws in a “dramatically changing world”.
Robyn Anderson, from HR Navigation, last week told Cranbourne Chamber of Commerce members that much had changed in the past 18 months, and businesses needed to keep on top of workplace rights and associated legalities.
Ms Anderson said there had been more changes to workplace laws in the past five years than the previous 110. One of the biggest was the remake of the Australian industrial relations system in 2009, now the Fair Work Act.
“There had been a huge increase in the number of unfair dismissal and discrimination claims of late,” Ms Anderson said.
One example was about an employee who was fired for “back fighting”, and took legal action against their workplace. Ms Anderson said the employer lost the case because it did not define what “back fighting” was.
“Dismissals are favouring employees. You must define everything or else you can be in trouble,” Ms Anderson said.
“It’s a different world now.”
A huge increase in discrimination claims had also popped up, with one employee being re-instated after being fired for refusing to wear safety gear.
“We’re getting really ridiculous decisions,” Ms Anderson said.
One of the more widely reported cases lately was that of a cafe worker in Hawthorn who committed suicide after being bullied at work.
“If you don’t act, people report you,” she said.
Ms Anderson said it was important for small-business owners to be aware that the definition of a small business changed in January this year.
A small business used to be defined as one with fewer than 15 fulltime staff members, she said. Now it is fewer than 15 people on the books.
There were various implications for this, Ms Anderson said, especially for businesses that employed seasonal workers such as fruit pickers.
Ms Anderson said people were so busy running their own businesses that it could be difficult to keep track of all the changes.
“But pay attention to this area,” she warned. To check out some of the latest changes visit www.fairwork.gov.au