If your organisation has 100 or more employees in Australia, it is required to lodge its annual Gender Equality Report by 31 May 2016 with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (Agency) to cover the reporting period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016.

It’s time for your organisation to get its data in order to report on:

• gender composition of the workforce;
• equal remuneration between women and men;
• working arrangements for employees and to working arrangements supporting employees with family or caring responsibilities;
• number of appointments made during the reporting period by gender and manager/non-manager;
• number of promotions awarded during the reporting period by gender, employment status and manager/non-manager;
• number of resignations during the reporting period by gender, employment status and manager/non-manager; and
• number of employees who, during the reporting period, ceased employment during, or at the end of, a period of parental leave (including where the parental leave is taken continuously with any other leave type, for example a person may utilise paid parental leave, annual leave and unpaid leave during a single block of 'parental leave').

A new Ombudsman is about to enter the scene – the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. 

Former ACT Chief Minister, Kate Carnell has been appointed to the role and is set to begin in March 2016. Carnell will step down as the current head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to take up the office, which will replace the current Small Business Ombudsman.

The new Ombudsman will have two main functions: to advise on, and to assist small businesses and family enterprises.

Independent contracting has been a hot topic this year and we predict that it will be for some time to come. Last week, the High Court added another layer to this discussion after handing down its decision in Fair Work Ombudsman v Quest South Perth Holdings Pty Ltd [2015] HCA 45 (Quest Decision).

The Quest Decision was an appeal from the Full Federal Court about sham contracting and the operation of s357(1) of the Fair Work Act. 

We’ve noticed a change recently. The Federal Court is firming up its position on awarding employees compensation for hurt and humiliation in adverse action claims.

The most recent case that sparked our attention on this issue was Fair Work Ombudsman v Maritime Union of Australia (No 2) [2015] FCA 814 where five employees were awarded damages for successfully arguing that the “loss” referred to in s545(2)(b) of the Fair Work Act (under which the Federal Court can award damages) includes loss other than economic loss, such as loss resulting from emotional harm and distress. 

Earlier this week, poultry supplier Baiada and the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) announced that they have entered into a 3-year Proactive Compliance Deed to right the wrongs of Baiada’s contractors who have for some time been underpaying their employees.

It’s been an interesting few weeks in the employment law world. We’ve had the 7/11 expose, a member of the Fair Work Commission on 4 Corners and last week, the Senate passed changes to the Fair Work Act 2009. One of the most significant amendments will change the way greenfields enterprise agreements are negotiated and approved.

We are super excited to be a part of HR Monthly’s vlog series. Our first vlog looked at this topic, but just because we’re lawyers and we like writing much more than we like talking on camera, we decided to set out some of the key points from our vlog on this blog post.

7Eleven are in hot water this week and it’s not the first time. On Monday night, Four Corners aired their expose on the franchise chain, shining a light on the abuse of workers and the restrictions of 7Eleven’s franchise model.

The joint investigation by Fairfax and the ABC raised some very serious issues deserving of public attention, but it’s not just the general public who should be paying attention to this story, franchisees and franchisors can learn a lot from the 7Eleven saga.

We were very lucky to have the pleasure of hearing Deb Coakley’s (Executive GM of People and Property Services at Dexus Property Group) inspirational “sermon” (her words not ours) at our most recent Table for 10 forum.  Deb kindly agreed to share wisdom on “why it’s not an HR issue, it’s a business issue” with our invitees. 

Employers are often asked to provide reference checks for current or former employees. Its common practice, but what obligations do employers have when they receive these types of phone calls?