AWL Bulletins

We regularly see employees whose spirit and health have been broken by workplace bullying, often because of unreasonable performance management activities by employers. Usually employees suffer a psychiatric reaction over a period of time which results in them not...

The Queensland government has announced that from 14 April 2022, vaccination requirements for workers and the public will be removed for a number of venues. These are hospitality venues (pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants), entertainment venues (theme parks, cinemas,...

So, you have been offered a great new job and are keen to get started. You receive a letter from your new employer with your employment agreement asking you to sign and return it. You should read it thoroughly and take the time to understand its contents because there...

Welcome to 2022 (which we hope will not be 2020 too)!  Underpayment or non payment of wages and entitlements continue to be a significant issue for many employees. The reality is that the authorities do not have the resources to pursue underpaid entitlement claims to...

The Queensland Chief Health Officer (CHO) has in recent weeks issued official directions concerning workplace vaccination requirements in the hospitality and health sectors. Workers in the health sector must have been double vaccinated by 15 December 2021 and those in...

There is no all encompassing requirement for procedural fairness (sometimes called “natural justice”) in employment law. Specific obligations can exist in particular circumstances and indirect obligations in others. In many cases procedural fairness is more a matter...

Our October bulletin set out the general avenues open to employees to challenge employer covid vaccination requirements. We were up front in stating the scope for challenge was relatively narrow. At least in Queensland that scope is about to become even narrower. The...

The general position is that covid vaccination is voluntary in this country, but is strongly encouraged. State and federal governments are imposing mandatory requirements on various public sector employees (and some private sector employees) where there is a high...

The promise of future equity So, you’ve had an offer to work in a business in return for the promise of future equity, maybe with a small wage. Usually these sorts of offers will come with so many ifs, buts and maybes as to be meaningless. The standard rules apply –...

A barrister once said to me “There aren’t as many trials as there used to be” and he was right. The cost, delay and uncertainty of outcome generally make “going to court” undesirable. Together with the increasing load on an under resourced court/tribunal system, this...