Workplace
In a bid to weather the economic fallout from COVID-19, some businesses have asked their employees to take a temporary pay cut as a means of keeping the business afloat and keeping people employed. But is this actually legal? And what recourse do employees have if their employer does the wrong thing? Extraordinary times, extraordinary […]
The results of an Atlassian study examining how working remotely has impacted knowledge workers during the COVID-19 pandemic provides valuable insights into how to lead a fragmented workforce. The three-monthly long global study, which surveyed over 5,000 employees, found an employee’s readiness for remote work was based on three key factors: Household Complexity – the […]
The Government has unveiled the JobMaker Hiring Credit to incentivise businesses to hire young job seekers over the next 12 months. It is expected to create around 450,000 positions for young Australians and cost the Government $4 billion from 2020-21 to 2022-23. What is it? From tomorrow, eligible employers will be able to claim $200 […]
Official ABS figures released today show that the unemployment rate has fallen to 6.8 per cent in August, down from 7.5 per cent in July. This drop contrasts widespread predictions of rising unemployment. Despite stage 4 lockdowns in Melbourne and stage 3 lockdowns across regional Victoria, national employment increased by 111,000 people between July and […]
Research from payroll and HR software solutions provider, Ascender, shows that more than one in three (37 per cent) of Australians are willing to take a pay cut in order to work from home for the rest of 2020. What does the research say? The research involved 1000 Australians from all states in late June. […]
Industrial relations changes have been critical in helping small business employers keep their doors open and staff on their payroll throughout the pandemic. The flexibilities that apply to employers on the JobKeeper wage subsidy, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises, give them the ability to change their duties, their total number of ordinary hours, days and […]
Employers breathe a sigh of relief as the Fair Work Commission releases draft flexibility clauses that help employers and employees discuss flexible working arrangements during and beyond COVID-19. On Monday, Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross published a “draft award flexibility schedule” outlining the ideas that modern awards could adopt to help SMEs achieve flexible […]
Recent data from Telsyte has shown that nearly half (45 per cent) of Australian organisations are looking to increase cloud infrastructure spending in 2020, and 46 per cent of Australian businesses now have ‘cloud first’ policies when it comes to making new investments. Murray Dickson is the Director of Sales Enterprise (South Pacific) at CommScope, […]
Many businesses are unsure about whether they should ask employees to return to the workplace. We’ve taken a look at the different approaches that some companies have taken. What are some of the current approaches to returning to the workplace? Marie-Anne Lampotang, General Manager at Stone & Chalk in Sydney, noted that many start ups […]
Personal/carer’s leave must now be ‘calculated by reference to an employee’s ordinary hours of work’, reverting to the method of calculation prior to August 2019. On 13 August 2020, the High Court of Australia changed how paid personal/carer’s leave under the National Employment Standards is to be accrued (see Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd v AMWU […]
New research shows that 3 in 4 working Aussies are enjoying not having to commute to work since the covid-19 outbreak disrupted normal office work; as a result, urban planner Mike Day, is calling for more self-contained, walkable neighbourhoods. At the height of the pandemic, 46 per cent of employed Australians were working from home. […]
About 20% of Australian mature workers – aged 55 years and over – say that they have difficulties finding work or securing sufficient hours. One of the primary reasons for this is their age, even though they are the fastest-growing segment of the workforce. Older workers are more likely to be discriminated against in the […]
Workplace safety will become as important to a 2020s office as it is to an outdoor worksite or the mine, while flexible work is here to stay as employees call for permanent work-from-home options, the new 2020 FlexCareers Report reveals. Based on answers from 1622 employees across over a 12-day time frame (17 to 29 […]
Working in the white-collar sphere calls for a selection of soft and hard skills but the coronavirus crisis will force us to acquire some brand new ones – and fast, writes Nintex HR Director, Jacqueline Anderson. It’s no exaggeration to say the world has changed utterly this year and it’s happened at bewildering speed. COVID-19 […]
To encourage businesses to take a stand against discrimination and push for a progressive future, Global Workplace Providers Instant Offices have gathered and analysed data on what diversity and inclusion looks like in workplaces around the world. Delving into which countries had the most inclusive workplaces based on The Kantar Inclusion Index, the top ten countries […]
The CEO of a national workforce management company is calling on Australian employers to rethink the need for their people to be sitting in an office five days a week, instead focusing on what individual workers need to achieve without a set time allocated. APG Workforce CEO Glenn Redman says his organisation has employed many […]
The JobKeeper scheme has confused many employers and business owners since it was introduced, and now the confusion centres around asking employees to return to the workplace, mainly due to people’s coronavirus Health & Safety concerns. Perhaps the discomfort with returning to work is also somewhat due to people’s new preference to work remotely, or to continue […]
The world, as well as commuter’s attitudes towards transport, have changed dramatically since COVID-19 shut down our cities. Mass transit and rideshare services have been something to avoid. “Micromobility” operators have taken a hard hit during the lockdown with many companies announcing redundancies and restructures. Uber announced in May that it is leading a US$170 […]
David Piggot talks us through his opinion of the new world of work – in terms of working from home, flexibility and technology – post pandemic. Whether it’s working at the kitchen table or balancing your laptop on an ironing board, by now we have all figured out a way to make our at-home office […]
More than half of Australians (52%) feel uncomfortable about returning to the workplace right now, with the vast majority (93%) of people saying it is important that they are allowed to work remotely at any point if they feel unsafe. This is the key finding from Qualtrics’ Return to Work & Back to Business Study, […]
