Workplace Relations Consultation Offer

For September Active Law is offering a 30 minute telephone consultation PLUS an employment ‘health check’ which allows you to assess your compliance for only $106 (plus GST).

COVID-19 continues to take its toll on businesses across the country. Consequently, many small and medium businesses are facing difficult decisions about the future of their business and their staff.

Recent decisions from the Fair Work Commission demonstrate that employers are not getting legal advice before they take steps to:

• stand staff down;
• make staff redundant;
• restructure their business; or
• dismiss staff.

The result has been that employers have been ordered to make significant payouts to employees at a time they can least afford it. Even the time and cost of defending a claim is challenging under the current conditions.

Prevention better than cure

The reality is that prevention really is better than a cure when it comes to employment matters. The Fair Work Ombudsman recently released a statement about a series of random audits on food and retail businesses in West End. In those audits, the FWO found that a whopping 88% of businesses did not comply with their employment obligations. The FWO recovered $309,073 in underpayments and issued contravention letters, formal cautions, infringement notices and compliance notices to non-compliant businesses, resulting in total penalties of $101,220 (in addition to underpayment claims).

Directors and officers personally liable

Do not assume it will only be the company that faces the penalties. There have been many examples of directors and officers being held personally liable for breaches of employment laws. Most recently, two companies were penalised a total of $242,313.75 in addition to $38,458.11 owed to staff from underpayments. The companies had a common General Manager, who was personally penalised $34,616. 

Invest in your business security

Spending a small amount to get advice about how to set up compliant employment structures can save you a lot of money later if your business is found to not comply with workplace laws or you have a back payment claim made against you. The good news is that it isn’t difficult to get it right with the right advice.

To assist our clients, Active Law is offering a 50% discount to our normal rate for a telephone consultation up to 30 minutes across September and October, to assist employers with questions they may have about their employment obligations now, and as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed and government support is rolled back. That means you will pay $106 (ex gst) for a consultation about your employment concerns. We will also send you an employment ‘health check’ for you to assess your compliance and work out if you need further assistance. If you do need more assistance, we will provide you with a quote, so you know what it will cost you beforehand. To take advantage of our limited offer, please call Active Law at (07) 3160 0000 or email at reception@activelaw.com.au

Disclaimer – Reliance on Content
The material distributed is general information only. The information supplied is not and is not intended to be, legal or other professional advice, nor should it be relied upon as such. You should seek legal or professional advice in relation to your specific situation.