The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has stated their intention to increase their audit focus on businesses that use contractors. An incorrect employment classification of an employee / contractor could be a breach of both ATO and Workers Compensation legislation. If ATO determine that your contractors are employees, you would have a shortfall in your Superannuation […]
Late last year the Queensland government made some significant changes to the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003. One particular change that employers should be aware of is that employers may now ask a prospective employee to disclose any pre-existing injury or medical condition that they believe or should suspect would be aggravated by the […]
Business owners beware! Even if you or your businesses are not active in the social media space, your employees’ online actions can have a lasting real life impact. In a well-known case from 2011, an employee of Linfox Australia Pty Ltd was dismissed for posting offensive and discriminatory comments about two of his managers on […]
Do you have a regular gardener or cleaner at your home or holiday home? Or maybe you have a paid child-minder at your residence on your social nights out? Have you considered if you require Household Worker Insurance? If you have paid help at your domestic residence, Household Worker Insurance is critical. A single work-related […]
There is a significant push on selling insurance products through mainstream retailers. Their foray into insurance is a calculated move that relies heavily on the established reputation of these retailers to provide convenience and savings in commoditised household goods. It’s a tactic popular with banks as they design products that will try to cater for […]
As the chills start settling in, we all need to be conscious of the winter fire season. Every year people die as a result of fires in the home. Statistics show the majority of house fires occur at night when people are asleep. Most are preventable. In a fire, you may only have a few […]
Nothing spoils a holiday more than being stranded following the financial collapse of a travel operator. Until recently, a traveller’s problems with a travel agent or transport operator going belly-up had some protection offered by the Travel Compensation Fund. This government legislated fund compensated travellers if the operator or agent collapsed and failed to account […]
As the dust settles on another financial year it is worth looking at some issues that continue to have an element of confusion for all concerned. One of these is the role of an insurance broker in relation to two widely used industry documents – the letter of appointment and the letter of authority. The […]
Australian Consumer Law (ACL) provides a national framework for consumer protection in the supply of goods and services. Under the ACL, the definition of a “manufacturer” of goods is broader than just the enterprise that makes the goods – it is defined as including a person (includes a company or partnership) who: extracts, grows, produces, […]
Employers are sometimes faced with a situation where they disagree with a decision of WorkCover to accept a claim for statutory benefits made by one of their employees who allege that they have been injured during the course of their employment. The employer may disagree with the acceptance of the claim for a variety of […]
