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27 July 2020
Webinar: Workplace manslaughter developments in Australia – A national snapshot
Nearly all Australian States and Territories have approached the law around Workplace Manslaughter differently, in a further departure from the proposed ‘harmonisation’ of safety laws. The introduction of these very serious criminal offences is the topic of discussion in boardrooms, executive teams...
25 June 2020
People: Industrial relations reform in 2020? Here we go again... (Australia)
It is ironic that on 26 May, almost precisely one year after the 2019 Federal Election, the PM made important announcements about Australia’s industrial relations ( IR ) system. The irony of course arises from the quite radical IR proposals which were taken to the election by the Australian Labor...
04 June 2020
Webinar: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces
On 5 March 2020, the Australian Human Rights Commission released its fourth national survey on Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces. The report has wide-ranging implications for employers - from a policy perspective and what it means to the culture of the workplace.
08 May 2020
COVID-19: People: Time to consider IR reforms for the post COVID economy (Australia)
Over the last month, the federal parliament acted promptly to enact bipartisan reforms to the Fair Work Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the federal IR Minister, Christian Porter, varied the regulations to the Fair Work Act and the Fair Work Commission changed its Rules...
03 April 2020
COVID-19: People: Flexibility provisions in Modern Awards (Australia)
Over the past week, the Fair Work Commission ( FWC ) has made determinations to vary the Clerks – Private Sector Award 2010 (the Clerks Award ), the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010 (the Hospitality Award ) and the Restaurant Industry Award 2010 (the Restaurant Industry Award ), to address...
03 April 2020
COVID-19: People: Temporary amendments to Modern Awards concerning leave entitlements (Australia)
The Fair Work Commission ( FWC ) announced that it proposes to temporarily vary 103 modern awards to: provide all employees (including full-time, part-time and casual employees) with a new entitlement of up to 2 weeks’ unpaid pandemic leave; and provide for employees, by agreement with their...
29 May 2019
Irony and the opportunity for generational reform of Australia’s Workplace Laws
There is some irony that the party which entered the 2019 federal election campaign with no IR policy now has the chance of a generation to make enduring and significant change to improve Australia’s IR system for employees and employers alike.
16 May 2019
A mega boost for the mega projects of the future
At a business breakfast in Perth on Wednesday 15 May, Bill Shorten announced an important policy the ALP will pursue if it achieves Government after this weekend’s election. The initiative will enable greenfield enterprise agreements to be struck for a period which covers the whole of the...
15 May 2019
A Gig Deal – ‘Gig Economy’ Regulation Initiatives at the Federal Level
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has a broad industrial relations platform that it is promoting in the lead up to the federal election. However, one key policy that has been set since early 2018 is a ‘crackdown’ on what is described as the ‘casualisation of Australia’s workforce and insecure work...
09 May 2019
“All is fair in love and war” – but what about in industrial relations?
It was once said (and many times repeated) that “[t]he adage ‘‘all is fair in love and war’’ is… as much applicable to industrial warfare as to any other type.” In other words, industrial relations is (or at least has traditionally been) a battle ground where parties have been largely free to...
08 May 2019
Industrial Relations Law Reform Agenda
Having difficulty cutting across the campaigning to focus on the actual policies of each party? Herbert Smith Freehills have prepared and continually updated a broad summary of the proposed industrial relations reforms publicly announced by the Liberal Party and the Australian Labor Party ( ALP ).
03 May 2019
After the Election: changes to safety right of entry?
The paucity of detail on the ALP’s law reform agenda in respect of right of entry could mean one of two things. No significant reform is planned, or details of proposed reforms will not be released until after the election. We expect the latter is more likely.
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07 September 2020
London International Disputes Week 2020
We are pleased to announce that London International Disputes Week (LIDW) is returning for a second year in September 2020. Herbert Smith Freehills is proud to be associated with this key event, which celebrates London as a global centre for dispute resolution. 7 – 11 September 2020 For more...
05 August 2020
Inside tech webinar series
Welcome to our Inside Tech webinar series. A series of TMT webinars covering topics such as fintech, digital infrastructure, healthtech, and growth and investments in Asia Pacific. New themes and episodes will be added regularly. To join a live webinar session, please register and save the calendar...
04 August 2020
Comparing the fault standards in Australian and UK shareholder class actions
Continuous disclosure obligations applicable to shareholder class action claims have been the subject of much debate in Australia in recent years. Recent amendments to the continuous disclosure provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) are intended to reduce opportunistic shareholder class...
03 August 2020
Governance: CORPORATE INSOLVENCY AND GOVERNANCE ACT 2020 - SOUNDBITE SERIES (UK)
Welcome to our soundbite series on the new Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 which came into effect on 26 June 2020. The provisions of the Act are complex and could have significant impact on companies in distress and their creditors, particularly landlords, suppliers, financial services...
30 July 2020
Funded class actions under the spotlight: Australian Federal Government introduces new regulations
On 24 July 2020, the Australian Federal Government introduced new regulations, removing the ‘managed investment scheme’ ( MIS ) and other financial services regulatory exemptions that apply for litigation funding schemes used in class actions.
30 July 2020
Human rights arguments increasingly deployed in climate change litigation
There has been a significant rise over the past five years in the number of climate change claims that have been based (at least in part) on human rights principles, according to the latest report from the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment...
29 July 2020
Pressure points: Trustees and administrators prepare for what’s ahead: Ombudsman to see a rise in complaints due to Covid-19 (UK)
The Pensions Ombudsman recently published both its Corporate Plan 2020-2023 and Annual Report for 2019/2020, which reveal that the number of enquiries the Ombudsman received has significantly increased in the last year. In addition, the Ombudsman expects the number of complaints to “undoubtedly”...
28 July 2020
UK autonomous sanctions underline importance of human rights due diligence
The importance of human rights and robust human rights due diligence was underlined earlier this month, by the UK government’s introduction of the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (the “ Sanctions Regulations ”). The Sanctions Regulations are the UK’s first autonomous sanctions...
27 July 2020
Amendments to Queensland’s security of payment regime
Amendments to Queensland’s Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 ( BIF Act ) have now passed, simplifying the project bank account framework and amending the rights and obligations of all parties involved in construction contracts in Queensland.
27 July 2020
Webinar: Workplace manslaughter developments in Australia – A national snapshot
Nearly all Australian States and Territories have approached the law around Workplace Manslaughter differently, in a further departure from the proposed ‘harmonisation’ of safety laws. The introduction of these very serious criminal offences is the topic of discussion in boardrooms, executive teams...
