Latest News

Pre-Litigation Requirements (as at May 2011) - 24-Jun-2011
Recent legislative amendments spell big changes for the way in which lawyers and clients must now approach civil litigation matters, both at the State and Federal level. This information focuses on the State legislative requirements under amendments ..
Parental leave/Flexible work requests - 26-May-2011
Unilateral change to an employee’s role by an employer potentially amounts to constructive dismissal giving rise to a claim for compensation for an employee. The recent decision in Fair Work Australia (“FWA”) of Maria &ndas..
OHS Harmonisation - towards a national system in January 2012 - 25-May-2011
Employers must start preparing for the 2012 implementation of the model Occupational Health & Safety laws in order to ensure compliance with the new legislation. The Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council has approved model provisions ..
Enterprise Agreements - Australia Flexibility clauses - some tips to ensure approval - 24-May-2011
ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS 1.1. Approval by FWA (a) By way of background, it is worth noting that Fair Work Austalia ("FWA") does not have a general discretion under the Fair Work Act ("the Act") to determine whether an enterprise agreement sho..
The elephant in the room - What steps has your Club taken to deal with Mandatory pre-commitment - 23-May-2011
Most if not all Clubs would now be aware of the Federal Parliamentary Joint Select Committee report on gambling reform which was handed down in May 2011. The chair of the committee was Mr Andrew Wilkie MP. The report sets out in detail reco..
Fraser-Kirk v David Jones – Is your business protected from sexual harassment claims? - 22-May-2011
Employers need to ensure that adequate policies and procedures are in place to avoid and to mitigate against the risks posed by sexual harassment claims. In 2010, Australia's biggest ever sexual harassment case - Kristy Fraser-Kirk v David Jone..
Unfair Dismissal - is your business protected from unfair dismissal claims? - 21-May-2011
The introduction of the Fair Work Act and the new unfair dismissal laws in July 2009 has resulted in a significant increase in coverage of employees within the unfair dismissal claims jurisdiction. Since that time, statistics show that there has..
Intellectual property - Are you legally entitled to maintain the usage of your business name? - 20-May-2011
It is important that businesses take all necessary steps to protect their intellectual property to avoid the loss or damage to their branding and intellectual property. This issue often arises in circumstances where businesses in related industr..
Managing ill and injured Employees - 19-May-2011
Employers should focus on ensuring reasonable management action and preventative steps when managing ill or injured employees to avoid workers compensation claims/other claims and the significant adverse effects and costs that are caused by such cla..
Are you paying your Club employees the correct entitlements under the Modern Award - 18-May-2011
Most registered clubs and their employees are now covered by the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2010 since 1 January 2010 when modern awards introduced by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) commenced operation to replace awards that existed before tha..

Eastern Commercial Lawyers

OHS Harmonisation - towards a national system in January 2012

24-May-2011
Employers must start preparing for the 2012 implementation of the model Occupational Health & Safety laws in order to ensure compliance with the new legislation.

The Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council has approved model provisions that will be adopted throughout Australia from 1 January 2012 as the Work Health and Safety Act (the new laws).

The Act and its supporting regulations which introduce, amongst other things, maximum fines of $3 million and jail terms for individuals for the most serious breaches, is onerous and all employers should ensure that adequate time and resources are spent to ensure compliance.

What Employer's should be doing to prepare

Employers should commence steps now to ensure that their operations will comply with the laws upon commencement.

The detail of the model provisions are now largely known with confirmation in NSW of the model provisions to be adopted, so Employers can proceed with confidence in transitioning towards them.

It is important that all employers carry out a review of their OH &S policies and procedures to ensure compliance.

Reasons for starting now include amongst other things, that contracts are being entered into now that will operate under the model laws. The contracts and supporting documents can be used as significant tools to aid compliance and to ensure effective health and safety management under the new laws.

Further, it takes anywhere between 6 months to 2 years depending on the size of the employer, to undertake organisational and policy change of the significance that will be required by the model laws. Training and dissemination of information to employees are part of the process - simply amending policies and procedures will not meet requirements under the new laws

In order to meet legal requirements, all Employers should undertake to:

Review your existing OH&S policies and procedures and make any necessary amendments to ensure they comply with the new laws.
Carrying out a due diligence/ risk assessment of your operations in light of the new laws - the new primary duty for Employer's is cast more broadly than under historic state laws
Review contracts to address consultation arrangements and otherwise to clarify respective obligations concerning OH & S compliance with the new laws
Develop robust consultation procedures given the expanded application of the duty to consult to cover workers including contractors and subcontractors
Develop an OHS Corporate Governance policy for the Board and Senior management to ensure clarification and compliance with their duties
Develop procedures on union right of entry to ensure orderly working of these provisions

If you require any legal advice on these matters, please contact John Murray on 0414 294 260 or by email on john.murray@eclawyers.com.au.

Back