Recent Fair Work Commission decisions have again confirmed the importance of strict compliance with procedural requirements by employers when seeking the approval of Enterprise Agreements.

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) sets out a number of substantive and procedural criteria regarding the processes to be followed for the commencement, negotiation and approval of Enterprise Agreements (EAs). These include prescribed formats for required documents set out the Fair Work Regulations 2009.

Standard form contracts have long been under a cloud and have troubled contract theory because they may arise even though there may have been no ’meeting of minds’ between the parties. Even so, merchants have found them very useful, probably for as long as there have been merchants. In Schroeder Music Publishing Co Ltd v Macaulay [1974] 1 WLR 1308 Lord Diplock noted the ’ancient’ history of standard form contracts and approved those between merchants facilitating terms of trade, but criticised the growth of one-sided contracts between parties of unequal bargaining power.

It`s important to pay attention to the way the personal information of your company is secured. If you mishandle the confidential information of your customers, it can cause them a financial or reputational loss and lead to a decreasing of trust and considerable harm to your good name.

So what should you do to maximise protection and minimise the consequences if there is a breach?

In the context of claims for negligence, there are few authorities providing guidance in relation to conduct that amounts to bullying. The District Court of New South Wales has recently determined a claim by a plaintiff who alleges that he sustained a psychological injury as a result of three instances of workplace bullying that occurred over a 5 year period (see Lal v Australian Administration Services Pty Ltd).

Congratulations to Alison Choy Flannigan and John Van de Poll for being selected as finalists in the Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year Awards 2016 for the Health and Insurance categories.  

The winners will be announced at a black-tie gala on 28 April. 

We wish Alison and John the best of luck.

The UK Insurance Act 2015 (the UK Act), which comes into force on 12 August 2016, contains some similar provisions to the Australian Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (ICA). Australia, however, has the advantage of more than 30 years of Appeal Court determinations on their provisions. In this article, we examine two Australian cases dealing with provisions equivalent to “Fair Presentation” and “Terms not relevant to the actual loss” – both key provisions that will be introduced by the UK Act.

We are delighted to announce that three of our firm’s senior team members have been selected in the Ninth edition of the oldest and most respected guide to the legal profession, Best Lawyers.

It is well established under Australia law that secondary publishers can be held liable for defamatory material if they had actual or constructive knowledge of the defamatory matter. This was the crux of Dr Janice Duffy’s multi-year legal battle in the Supreme Court of South Australia with internet search giant, Google.

On October 13th, the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth) legislated for the retention of metadata by telecommunications carriers and internet service providers (telcos) for a mandatory period of two years. This data will then be made available to federal, state and territory police, Medicare, Councils in NSW, Worksafe Victoria, the RSPCA, the Tax Office, Australia Post, domestic spy agency ASIO, ASIC and many others when conducting criminal and financial investigations.

Congratulations to Kristen Hammond, Associate in our Workplace Relations team, on her recent nomination as Young Gun of the Year in The Lawyers Weekly 2015 Women In Law Awards. 

The Women In Law Awards recognises the achievements of female legal professionals in all areas and at all levels, with the winners being announced at a black tie gala dinner  in Melbourne on 27 November.  All of us at Holman Webb wish Kristen the best of luck.