The global movement to eradicate modern forms of slavery has taken another step forward. And, again, much of the responsibility for this progress is being placed on corporates. On 21 June 2018, the NSW Parliament passed its Modern Slavery Act. This Act will commence on a day to be appointed. The Act seeks to combat modern forms of slavery (serious exploitation such as slavery, forced labour and human trafficking) and provide assistance and support for…
The Fair Work Commission’s panel for annual wage reviews released its Annual Wage Review 2017-2018 decision on 1 June 2018. The decision provides that minimum award wages will increase across the board by 3.5% effective 1 July 2018. This decision will result in the following increases to the Federal minimum wage rates: Weekly minimum wage: from $694.90 to $719.20 (increase of $24.30); Hourly minimum rate: from $18.29 to $18.93 (increase of 64 cents). The proportion…
Key takeaway A recent decision by the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has opened access to unfair dismissal laws for workers employed on successive, maximum term contracts. Maximum term or ‘outer limit’ contracts are contracts for a specific period of time which may also be terminated before the end of that period by the giving of notice. The Full Bench in Khayam v Navitas [2017] FWCFB 5162 (Navitas) has determined that, in the…
The Parliamentary Committee inquiring into whether a Modern Slavery Act should be introduced in Australia has now released its final report. The Committee heard that Australian business supply chains are closely linked with countries and businesses in the Asia-Pacific region, and many products sourced from that region are at high risk of being produced by modern slavery (that is, serious exploitation such as slavery, forced labour and human trafficking), particularly at lower tiers of supply…