Australia
Answer ... All employees (male or female) are entitled to unpaid parental leave, provided that they have worked with the employer for at least 12 months and have or will have responsibility for the care of the child. Casual employees must be able to establish that they have been employed on a regular and systematic basis and have a reasonable expectation of ongoing employment.
Australia
Answer ... Following the adoption or birth of a child, employees are allowed a total of 12 months’ unpaid parental leave and can request an additional 12 months of leave under the National Employment Standards found in the Fair Work Act.
On the conclusion of unpaid parental leave, employees have the right to return to the same position they occupied before going on leave. If the employee’s position has significantly changed or no longer exists, a similar alternative position must be offered to the employee. If the employee’s position no longer exists, then a redundancy may occur.
An employee on unpaid parental leave gets 10 ‘keeping in touch’ days. These allow an employee who is still on unpaid parental leave to go back to work for a few days. The employee gets his or her normal wage for each keeping in touch day (or part thereof).
Employees who are the primary carers of an adopted or newborn child can receive 18 weeks of pay capped at the national minimum wage under the Australian government’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme. Eligible partners and fathers are entitled to two weeks of pay under the same scheme.
Australia
Answer ... Industrial organisations, such as employer associations and unions apply to the Fair Work Commission for registration under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (the RO Act).
From 1 May 2017, the Registered Organisations Commission regulates registered organisations.
Registration provides unions with several rights in relation to the interests of their members. The Fair Work Act gives unions the right to act as a bargaining representative when negotiating an enterprise agreement. Unions can also represent members in disputes to enforce standards in the Fair Work Act, modern awards and enterprise agreements.
Additionally, unions can enter an employer’s place of business to conduct investigations into possible breaches of the Fair Work Act, industrial standards, work or agreements by;
- examining all or any work processes in conjunction with an investigation;
- conducting voluntary interviews with any parties in conjunction with an investigation; and
- requesting the production of any record or document pertinent to an investigation.
Australia
Answer ... There is no common law right to privacy in Australia. In Australia, data protection is regulated through the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
The Privacy Act contains an ‘employee records’ exemption which allows employers to collect, use and disclose employee records without first obtaining consent from employees, provided that the action is directly related to the employment relationship.
Employers need not provide notice to employees before sending employee records to foreign organisations overseas. However, those foreign organisations will not benefit from the Australian employee record exception and will be subject to the privacy legislation in the country in which they reside.
Information that does not directly relate to the employment relationship and information obtained from prospective employees and independent contractors is not subject to the employee records exemption. In these circumstances, the Privacy Act applies.
There is no national workplace surveillance legislation in Australia. Some states and territories have specific workplace surveillance laws. For example, in New South Wales, the Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 (NSW) applies to optical surveillance, computer surveillance and tracking surveillance within the workplace. There are specific rules for notifying employees about surveillance in the workplace.
Australia
Answer ... Contingent workers are regulated in a limited way.
For example, the Fair Work Act general protections provisions extend to ‘workers’, which includes independent contractors.
The Independent Contractors Act 2006 also provides a mechanism for independent contractors to ask a court to set aside a contract if it is harsh or unfair.