Employers can minimise the development and aggravation of workplace mental illness and dramatically reduce their exposure to litigation by putting in place an employee assistance program and developing a clear anti-bullying policy, according to workplace lawyer Greg Robertson.
Employers looking to implement workplace drug and alcohol testing must ensure that the process is completely transparent to avoid possible litigation - especially when it comes to sacking workers who test positive to prohibited substances, says Harmers Workplace Lawyers partner, Jamie Robinson.
"Gardening leave" clauses in employment contracts can be an effective means to keep company secrets out of competitors' hands and prevent departing employees from disrupting the workplace, providing they are not enforced for an "unreasonable" length of time, according to a senior employment lawyer.
The proposed national IR laws broaden employers' exposure to discrimination claims and might lead to bigger payouts in some jurisdictions, a senior workplace lawyer says.
Concealing a company's shaky financial position from employees during the economic downturn could be grounds for an unfair dismissal case should redundancies ensue, according to a workplace lawyer.
Employees with children will for the first time have a legislated right to request flexibility in their work arrangements, while employers will have a countervailing right to refuse requests on "reasonable business grounds", if the federal government's new industrial relations bill becomes law.
With global economic turbulence set to continue and IR legislation changes taking effect within a year, employers must act now to ensure they will survive the emergence of an altered business landscape, according to a workplace lawyer.
The Federal Government's new unfair dismissal laws and bargaining framework - replacing elements of the Work Choices regime - will come into force from July 2009, Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has announced.
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