workplace relations

Featured image for “Performance Management That Holds Up” showing an office desk with a laptop, performance charts, workflow documents and reports.

Performance Management That Holds Up: Why a Valid Reason Is Only Half the Defence

Compliance /

An engineer with thirty years’ experience was dismissed for genuinely substandard work. Missed deadlines. Quality problems. A welding error that halted a production line.  The Fair Work Commission accepted there was a valid reason to dismiss him. He won anyway — and was awarded compensation of $21,471.15 plus superannuation — because the employer had no formal performance management process and gave him

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Featured image showing stacks of employment documents and contracts on a desk, representing the complexities of determining whether a worker is a contractor or employee under Australian workplace laws.

Contractor or Employee? Why One Worker Can Be Both — and What Misclassification Now Costs

Compliance /

“They invoice us. They have an ABN. They’re a contractor.”  That reasoning has never been enough, and in 2026 it is actively dangerous. A single worker can be a contractor at common law, an employee for superannuation purposes, and a deemed employee for payroll tax — all at the same time, under three different tests. 

Contractor or Employee? Why One Worker Can Be Both — and What Misclassification Now Costs Read More »

Featured image showing a calendar highlighting a seven-day period alongside a calculator and money, representing Payday Super, pay-cycle superannuation payments and employer payroll obligations.

Payday Super Is Here: What Employers Must Fix Now That Superannuation Is a Pay-Cycle Obligation

Compliance /

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

Payday Super Is Here: What Employers Must Fix Now That Superannuation Is a Pay-Cycle Obligation Read More »

Non-compete agreement marked out beside a 2027 calendar block, representing proposed changes to non-compete clauses in Australian employment contracts.

The End of the Standard Non-Compete: How to Protect Your Business Before the 2027 Restraint Reforms

Compliance /

There is a clause in almost every Australian employment contract that most employers have never tested, many could not enforce, and a great number are about to lose.  The Government has announced that from 2027 it will ban non-compete clauses for workers earning below the Fair Work Act high-income threshold, and prohibit wage-fixing and no-poach agreements between businesses. The reforms are not law yet. But the work

The End of the Standard Non-Compete: How to Protect Your Business Before the 2027 Restraint Reforms Read More »

Featured image showing a workplace team collaborating, representing psychosocial risk management, psychological safety, and WHS compliance in Australian workplaces.

Managing Psychosocial Risks in the Workplace: Why a Policy Alone Won’t Protect You

Compliance /

What’s the real issue?  Having a psychosocial health and safety policy is not the same as managing psychosocial risk and regulators increasingly treat the gap as a breach. The most common mistake we see is treating this as an HR document rather than a WHS obligation owned by senior leadership exactly the “Band-Aid solution” the Model Code of Practice warns against.  A

Managing Psychosocial Risks in the Workplace: Why a Policy Alone Won’t Protect You Read More »

Manager discussing a flexible work request with an employee across a desk, with legal symbols including scales of justice, a gavel, and hybrid work icons representing Australian workplace flexibility and Fair Work compliance.

Flexible Work Requests: What Recent Fair Work Commission Decisions Require of Employers

Compliance /

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

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Featured image showing a calculator, financial documents, and payroll calculations, representing annualised salaries, set-off arrangements, payroll compliance, and employee wage entitlements under Australian employment law.

The Salary Trap: What the Coles and Woolworths Decision Means for Annualised Salaries and Set-Off Arrangements

Compliance /

If you pay an annual salary to award-covered staff, the Coles and Woolworths underpayment decision should be on your radar. Paying a generous salary that “washes out” over a year is no longer enough: a set-off must satisfy award entitlements in each pay period — not on average across the year. That point redraws the compliance map for Australian

The Salary Trap: What the Coles and Woolworths Decision Means for Annualised Salaries and Set-Off Arrangements Read More »

Featured image showing a balance scale with employee figures, a vacant office chair under a magnifying glass, and redundancy symbols, representing reasonable redeployment assessments during a genuine redundancy process.

Reasonable Redeployment in Genuine Redundancy: Why “No Vacancies” Is No Longer Enough After the High Court’s Helensburgh Decision

Compliance /

When you make a role redundant, can you rely on the fact that there were simply no other jobs going? Not any more.  Following the High Court’s 2025 decision in the Helensburgh Coal matter, “reasonable redeployment” under section 389 of the Fair Work Act now reaches beyond a list of vacant positions — in some cases it extends

Reasonable Redeployment in Genuine Redundancy: Why “No Vacancies” Is No Longer Enough After the High Court’s Helensburgh Decision Read More »

Featured image showing an open office doorway leading to a workplace, symbolising an employee's return to work, injury recovery, workplace reintegration, and employer responsibilities under Australian employment and WHS laws.

Return to Work Under Pressure: Managing Injury, Capacity and Employer Risk in the Australian Workplace

Compliance /

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 —

Return to Work Under Pressure: Managing Injury, Capacity and Employer Risk in the Australian Workplace Read More »

Featured image showing workplace investigation documents, a clipboard checklist, office files, and a pen, representing procedural fairness, workplace investigations, and compliant HR processes.

Workplace Investigations Done Right: How to Protect Your Organisation Through Process, Procedural Fairness and Privilege

Compliance /

A well-run workplace investigation is one of the strongest risk-management tools an Australian employer has. Done properly, it gives you a defensible basis to act on misconduct. Done poorly, the investigation itself becomes the liability — often costing more than the original complaint.  The difference comes down to process: right scope, procedural fairness, privilege considered early, and

Workplace Investigations Done Right: How to Protect Your Organisation Through Process, Procedural Fairness and Privilege Read More »

Featured image showing a manager reviewing probation documents with a new employee, representing probation management, performance discussions, and employer obligations under the Fair Work Act.

Probation Done Properly: What Employer Obligations Under the Fair Work Act Really Mean

Compliance, Uncategorized /

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 »

Featured image showing balanced scales with HR, legal, and psychological safety symbols, representing the intersection of employment law, WHS obligations, and psychosocial risk management in Australian workplaces.

When HR Decisions Become WHS Risks: Managing the Intersection Between Psychosocial Safety Law and Employment Law

Compliance /

Performance-manage an underperformer, restructure a team or investigate a bullying complaint, and you are no longer working within employment law alone. That decision now sits inside your work health and safety duty — and a process that is perfectly lawful under the Fair Work Act can still expose you under WHS legislation.  The answer is not to

When HR Decisions Become WHS Risks: Managing the Intersection Between Psychosocial Safety Law and Employment Law Read More »

Featured image showing a diverse team of employees collaborating in a workplace meeting, representing employer leadership, workplace respect, and proactive prevention of sexual harassment under Australia's positive duty laws.

The Positive Duty Explained: How Australian Employers Prevent Sexual Harassment at Work

Compliance /

The biggest shift in Australian sexual harassment law is not a new penalty or complaint form. It is a change in who must act, and when.  Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), employers now carry a positive duty — a proactive, ongoing obligation to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment, sex discrimination, sex-based harassment, hostile work environments and victimisation, so far as possible. 

The Positive Duty Explained: How Australian Employers Prevent Sexual Harassment at Work Read More »

Featured image showing legal scales, a shield with people icons, workplace documents, and silhouettes of employees, representing general protections claims and Fair Work Commission case management for Australian employers.

General Protections Claims: What the Fair Work Commission’s New Case Management Means for Australian Employers

Compliance /

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

General Protections Claims: What the Fair Work Commission’s New Case Management Means for Australian Employers Read More »

Three business professionals collaborating in a modern office meeting with laptops, documents, and financial reports on the table.

What Employers Need to Know About the FY26/27 Australian Federal Budget (A practical briefing from Harrisons for Australian employers )

Uncategorized /

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

What Employers Need to Know About the FY26/27 Australian Federal Budget (A practical briefing from Harrisons for Australian employers ) Read More »

Two business professionals reviewing workplace compliance documents in a modern office ahead of major Australian employment law changes taking effect on 1 July 2026.

What’s changing on 1 July 2026 — and what to do about it before it lands

Compliance, Uncategorized /

Every July brings a wave of workplace law changes. Most years you can absorb them with a payroll update and a quick policy review. 2026 is not that year.  The changes landing on 1 July 2026 are structural — not cosmetic. They alter how super is paid, how parental leave is funded, what counts as

What’s changing on 1 July 2026 — and what to do about it before it lands Read More »

HR manager reviewing pay and award compliance documents in Australia

Pay and Award Compliance in Australia: A Back-to-Basics Guide for Employers

Compliance /

Why Pay and Award Compliance Matters in Australia Pay and award compliance in Australia has become a major focus for employers, regulators, and the Fair Work Ombudsman. With increasing audits, penalties, and high-profile underpayment cases, businesses must ensure they meet their legal obligations under workplace laws. In our recent HR Bites webinar: Back to Basics

Pay and Award Compliance in Australia: A Back-to-Basics Guide for Employers Read More »

A landmark Federal Court decision reshapes BOOT compliance, annualised salaries and offset clauses. Here’s what Australian employers must review now.

The New “Pay-Period” BOOT: What the Landmark Ruling Means for Employers

Uncategorized /

A recent Federal Court decision has fundamentally changed how Australian employers must think about annualised salaries, offset clauses and the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT). Often referred to as the “pay period boundary” ruling, this decision has wide ranging implications for payroll, HR, employment contracts and record keeping practices across all industries — not just

The New “Pay-Period” BOOT: What the Landmark Ruling Means for Employers Read More »

Harrisons Webinar on HR and employment law for 2026

HR & Workplace Relations Trends for 2026: What Employers Need To Know

Uncategorized /

As we step into 2026, Australian workplaces are facing one of the fastest periods of transformation in recent memory. From technological disruption to shifting workforce expectations and major legislative reform, employers must be more proactive than ever to stay compliant, competitive and people-centred. In today’s Harrison’s Webinar, Managing Director Claire Harrison unpacked the 12 most

HR & Workplace Relations Trends for 2026: What Employers Need To Know Read More »

Harrisons HR team

The Top 10 HR Trends Shaping Australian Workplaces in 2025 to 2026

Small Business HR /

As we move into 2026, Australian workplaces are navigating a period of rapid transformation. From the rise of generative AI to new compliance obligations and evolving workforce expectations, HR leaders face both unprecedented challenges and exciting opportunities. Here’s what’s shaping the future of work—and what your organisation needs to do now. Generative AI Becomes a

The Top 10 HR Trends Shaping Australian Workplaces in 2025 to 2026 Read More »

Reward & Recognition for Under $50: Meaningful Engagement That Doesn’t Break the Bank

HR & Employee Engagement, Uncategorized /

In today’s competitive workplace, retaining great people and building a thriving culture isn’t just about salary—it’s about making employees feel valued, seen, and appreciated. Recognition is one of the most powerful drivers of engagement, loyalty, and performance, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. In fact, the most meaningful gestures are often simple, authentic,

Reward & Recognition for Under $50: Meaningful Engagement That Doesn’t Break the Bank Read More »

Harrisons Federal Election Update for Employers

Federal Election Update May 2025: What Employers Need to Know Now

Uncategorized /

As the Labor Government begins a new term, significant workplace reforms are officially in motion—many of which will reshape how we approach employment, pay equity, and workforce planning in Australia. In a recent presentation, I walked through the key changes already confirmed, those proposed, and what business owners and HR leaders should be doing right

Federal Election Update May 2025: What Employers Need to Know Now Read More »

federal budget for employers and HR

Advice for Australian Employers on the New Federal Budget

Uncategorized /

The recent release of the Australian Federal Budget brings several key changes and initiatives that will impact businesses and employers across the country. Harrisons, as your HR business partner, are here to help you navigate these changes and optimise your operations in light of the new budget. Key Impacts on Employers: Job Creation and Skills

Advice for Australian Employers on the New Federal Budget Read More »

Gig Economy

THE GIG ECONOMY: A STRATEGIC GUIDE FOR BUSINESSES AND HR PROFESSIONALS

Uncategorized /

The gig economy, characterised by its flexible, freelance, and often digital nature, is reshaping the global workforce. This trend, increasingly prevalent in Australia and across the globe, represents a significant shift in how work is perceived, engaged, and managed. For businesses, leaders, and HR professionals, understanding and strategically integrating gig work into their operations is

THE GIG ECONOMY: A STRATEGIC GUIDE FOR BUSINESSES AND HR PROFESSIONALS Read More »

Employment Law Compliance

NAVIGATING REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND CHANGING EMPLOYMENT LAWS: A GLOBAL BUSINESS IMPERATIVE

Uncategorized /

In today’s rapidly evolving legal landscape, staying abreast of regulatory compliance and changing employment laws is paramount for businesses, people leaders, company directors, and entrepreneurs globally. As workplaces become more diverse and the nature of work more complex, understanding and adhering to these changing regulations is not just about legal necessity but also about fostering

NAVIGATING REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND CHANGING EMPLOYMENT LAWS: A GLOBAL BUSINESS IMPERATIVE Read More »

Employee Experience

ELEVATING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE AND ENGAGEMENT: A KEY FOCUS FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS LEADERS

Uncategorized /

In the current business climate, the concept of employee experience and engagement has taken centre stage, emerging as a pivotal factor in organisational success. Understanding and enhancing employee experience is not just an HR initiative but a strategic imperative for business leaders worldwide. It involves creating a workplace environment that fosters satisfaction, productivity, and loyalty.

ELEVATING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE AND ENGAGEMENT: A KEY FOCUS FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS LEADERS Read More »

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