For decades, superannuation was a quarterly problem. You accrued it, you reconciled it, and you paid it within 28 days of the quarter’s end. From 1 July 2026 that model is gone. Superannuation is now a pay-cycle obligation: contributions must be received by the employee’s fund within seven business days of payday. Miss it — even by a day, even by a small amount — and
What’s the real issue? Since the 2023 changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), how you handle a flexible work request now matters as much as whether you say yes or no. Under section 65B, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) can now arbitrate refused requests — and order you to grant one anyway if you did not follow the
Flexible Work Requests: What Recent Fair Work Commission Decisions Require of Employers Read More »
Managing ill and injured employees is one of the highest-risk tasks any Australian employer faces. When a worker is injured or falls ill, several legal regimes switch on at once — and they don’t always agree. Get it right and you protect your people and your organisation. Get it wrong and one termination can trigger multiple claims. Here’s how to do it —
Probation is not a legal safe zone. Ending employment during probation removes unfair dismissal exposure — but not a general protections claim, a discrimination complaint, or a breach of contract. Getting the fundamentals right keeps you out of trouble. What’s the real issue? Employers routinely confuse two very different things: A contractual probation period — a creature of contract
Probation Done Properly: What Employer Obligations Under the Fair Work Act Really Mean Read More »
The Fair Work Commission has overhauled how general protections claims are run, and the shift favours prepared employers. Representation is decided “on the papers” before conference; out-of-time applications are triaged before you are served; conciliation is a fast 60-minute, resolution-only session; and a new Early Dispute Resolution (EDR) pilot tests informal settlement calls soon after lodgement. The reforms reward preparation
The 2026–27 Federal Budget was handed down on 12 May 2026, and while much of the headline commentary focused on tax cuts and cost-of-living relief, there is a lot in this Budget that Australian employers need to be thinking about right now. This is not a Budget of broad incentives. It is a Budget of