Monthly Newsletter | Mare Lawyers Workwise Advisory | Workplace Advice https://workwiseadvisory.com.au Workplace Advice Employment Law Bunbury Tue, 13 Apr 2021 05:41:58 +0000 en-AU hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://workwiseadvisory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-mini-logo-1-32x32.png Monthly Newsletter | Mare Lawyers Workwise Advisory | Workplace Advice https://workwiseadvisory.com.au 32 32 Record Keeping https://workwiseadvisory.com.au/record-keeping/ https://workwiseadvisory.com.au/record-keeping/#respond Wed, 06 Nov 2019 05:24:38 +0000 https://workwiseadvisory.com.au/?p=5650
In a decision reinforcing the need for employers to maintain timesheets, the Federal Court of Australia has more than doubled the restitution a Lodge in Margaret River must make to two former employees.

This month’s ruling by Justice Craig Colvin follows another Federal Court decision in August which stands as the Fair Work Ombudsman’s first successful prosecution under the new reverse onus of proof provisions of s557C of the Fair Work Act 2009, requiring employers to disprove underpayment claims if they have not kept adequate records. 

The case in point involved the Lodge having to disprove the handwritten records of the two employees, as the Lodge had not kept any written records of their own.  As the Lodge was incapable of supplying sufficient evidence to disprove the allegations of the hours worked by the employees, Justice Colvin accepted the accuracy of the employees’ records and ordered the employer to pay the full hours recorded by the two employees (with reductions for breaks and accommodation) plus interest, in his ruling.

This is a stark reminder to the importance of keeping appropriate timesheets, and we would like to draw members attention to the recently added Timesheet Template on the Workwise Advisory website.

]]> https://workwiseadvisory.com.au/record-keeping/feed/ 0 Underpayment of Entitlement https://workwiseadvisory.com.au/underpayment-of-entitlement/ https://workwiseadvisory.com.au/underpayment-of-entitlement/#respond Wed, 19 Jun 2019 01:48:29 +0000 https://workwiseadvisory.com.au/?p=5439 In the News

Last week we saw a major case where a magistrate in the Industrial Magistrate Court found against an employer who had underpaid an employee and was found to be non-compliant with modern awards.

In determining the relevant classification under which an employee must be paid, the magistrate again reminded us that a practical approach should be taken in identifying the major or substantial aspect of the employee’s work.

Careful note must be taken of the duties which the employee is undertaking whilst they are at work.  It is not sufficient to only look at the employment agreement.  Consideration must be taken of where in the organisation the employee spends most of their time and to look at where the substantial portion of the employee’s duties fall on a day to day basis.

Notwithstanding that an employer has agreed in a contract to pay the employee at a specified level, once the employee starts to perform duties at a higher level, the employer must then re-classify and pay that employee at the appropriate higher level.

Businesses can open themselves up to civil penalties if it is found that underpayment of any entitlement has occurred: up to $51,000 against an organisation, and $10,000 against directors.

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Members are reminded to make use of our online forms and templates covering a range of human resources, industrial relations and workplace management topics. For further information about our products and services check out our website www.workwiseadvisory.com.au.

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