Posts: Duty of Care

The NSW District Court has heard how following an incident involving the low voltage pole changeovers which caused significant injuries to a worker, a similar incident occurred about nine weeks later, this time causing a fatality.

Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) have a positive obligation to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and others.

Employers' duty of care for employees, duty of care and contributory negligence, workers compensation and working from home, multiple roles and overtime, general protections and reason for adverse action.

The rapid rise of concepts such as the gig economy has seen a significant shift in our understanding of the differences between independent contractors and employees.

No employer operates in a silo – all employers operate in complex systems of interrelated stakeholders including employees, customers, other businesses, and regulators who enforce the laws that apply to the employer and their business.

In the lead up to our webinar titled “Hold the Line! – Restraints & Employment Contracts” on 28 August 2019, we wanted to share some of the main discussion points and prominent cases on the topic of restraints of trade.

Work health and safety legislation aims to provide protections for workers and other persons by eliminating or minimising risks to health and safety.

Workplace investigations and the disciplinary process, labour hire company convicted, review of Miscellaneous Award 2010, recruitment, criminal records and discrimination, sports Law - player suspensions and stand downs

A recent decision from the District Court of New South Wales has highlighted the importance of a host employer’s duty of care to any labour-hire worker it engages where the work directions and conditions are within the host employer’s knowledge and control.

Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation imposes positive obligations on employers to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace to accommodate an employee’s disability, unless doing so would cause unjustifiable hardship to the business.

A workplace incident involving a worker struck by a forklift has demonstrated the importance of having documented systems of work and induction processes in place that are accessible for all workers.

The tragic death of a 19 year old college football player in the USA serves as a reminder to sporting organisations at all levels about the duty of care owed to their players.

ACT Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Coles Supermarkets and confirmed an earlier decision in which a Coles employee was awarded more than $1 million in damages.

Codes set out the minimum standards to meet work health and safety requirements and are admissible in WHS prosecutions. Guides and Australian Standards will also be relevant safety material that employers should consider when creating safety documentation.

In Govier v UnitingCare Community [2017] QCA 12, an employee’s appeal was dismissed, confirming an earlier decision that her employer did not breach any duty of care when it issued letters to the employee in the course of an investigation, resulting in aggravation of her psychiatric conditions.