15 June 2020
This week, the NSW Government released the new ‘COVID Safe business’ tool – designed to assist businesses in promoting their COVID Safe credentials, as normal operations continue to resume.
More information on the various developments in the employment space this week are outlined below.
As always, a reminder that at any time you can access the most relevant COVID-19 legal insights from across our global network.
Launch of the ‘COVID Safe business’
The NSW Government has released the online COVID Safe business tool where employers can register their business as being ‘COVID Safe’ once a COVID-19 Safety Plan has been completed.
Once businesses are certified as being ‘COVID safe’, they may display their certification on their premises and on social and digital channels. Businesses will also receive customer feedback on their safety measures and where necessary, a regulator may intervene.
You can find a link to COVID Safe business here.
COVID-19 Recovery Employer Toolkit
iCare NSW has released the COVID-19 Recovery Employer Toolkit: Part 2 – A safe return to business to assist employers with managing a safe reopening of their business. This Toolkit is designed to provide a comprehensive framework for businesses to approach new ways of working in a COVID-19 environment.
You can find a copy of this toolkit here.
New JobKeeper test case
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers has launched a test case in the Federal Court which will examine employers’ powers under the JobKeeper rules. The matter concerns a finance broker whose salary was reduced from $200,000 to $40,000 (the annualised equivalent of the $1,500 JobKeeper fortnightly payment) allegedly under the guise of COVID-19 and the JobKeeper scheme.
You can find a copy of this case here.
COVID-19 Insights
People: Protecting and reshaping
Governments have moved rapidly to protect public health and minimise the jobs and skills lost as a result of the pandemic. Our interactive guide explores the approaches employers may wish to take, during the crisis and in its aftermath to safeguard the health and safety of employees, to preserve jobs, skills and the future viability of businesses, and to protect individual personal data. Click here to read more.
Weekly webinar
This week, Nora Chlap (BD Director, Australia) interviews Dr Chris Stevens (our in-house Psychologist) and Danielle Kelly (our Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion) to discuss how leaders can help people through these times, as well as how to harness the agility and creativity that many of us have seen from the forced working from home period.
Click here to view the webinar or listen to the podcast here.
For further information, please contact:
Anna Creegan, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
