On 30 June 2009, the Federal Court of Australia handed down a
fine of $210,100 in a Comcare prosecution of the Commonwealth of
Australia, acting through the Chief of the Army for a contravention
of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 (Cth) (the
OHS Act) by the Australian Army Cadets
(AAC) in the course of conducting a three day
training course known as Bivouac 2007 at the Wombat State Forest in
Central Victoria in March 2007.1
The fine handed down is close to the maximum civil penalty
available under the OHS Act, which is $242,000.
The Federal Court proceedings had two separate parts, one part
which related to the supply of food to cadets containing peanuts
despite being informed of allergies to peanuts and the second part
which related to losing a number of cadets for a period of eighteen
(18) hours.
Part 1 – Supply Of Food Containing Peanuts
In the course of...
Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
On July 7, 2010, the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued an interim rule requiring federal contractors to make certain disclosures regarding first-tier subcontract awards.
As employment of summertime youth workers peaks, it is a good time to review compliance with the myriad federal and state laws and regulations governing this segment of your employee pool.
On Monday, July 26, 2010 – the 20th Anniversary of enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued four Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRMs) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The recent Court of Appeal case of GX Networks Limited v Greenland shows how important it is for employers to have effective capping arrangements in incentive plans and also to use them correctly.
Last week, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury issued additional guidance regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA"). This guidance addresses the requirement that group health plans provide certain preventive items and services without cost-sharing.
Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) rulings on what kinds of measures are capable of amounting to repudiatory conduct in the context of a constructive unfair dismissal claim are always instructive.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued its final safe harbor regulations establishing a time frame within which participant contributions and loan payments will be considered timely deposited to an employee benefit plan.
As the pace and emotional pressures of everyday life impact employees at home and in the workplace, a distressing and tragic trend has been occurring for some time—employees are unable to control their emotions at work, and violence erupts toward managers, co workers, customers or third parties.
Alison Vine, Tax Director at Ernst & Young in Guernsey, explains the advantages of establishing or transferring your pension abroad if you are not staying in the UK. The top rate of income tax in the UK is 50%, contributions into UK pension schemes are qualifying for less and less relief, and the fiscal position of the UK is worrying.
