Executives of companies may now be held personally liable if they have failed to back-pay employees their workplace entitlements.
Abolished Duties
On 1 July 2016 several duties were abolished in New South Wales.
Annual Leave Changes in Modern Awards
The Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) has amended the annual leave provisions in the majority of the Modern Awards.
Changes in Management of Strata Schemes
Majority of changes to the strata management legislation commenced on 30 November 2016, remaining changes are anticipated to start on 1 July 2017. Some changes concern how an owner’s corporation (“OC”) will function and how strata properties will be managed. These changes will affect persons who own or rent strata units and developers of strata properties.
ACCC Bans Excessive Credit Card Surcharges
A 2015 study conducted by Mastercard found that Australians pay approximately $1.6 billion annually in credit card surcharges. In response to this study and a high number of consumer complaints, the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (“the Act”) has recently been amended to prohibit businesses from imposing excessive credit card surcharges on consumers.
The ban on excessive surcharges took effect for large merchants from 1 September 2016 and will apply to all businesses from 1 September 2017.