On 1 January 2005 the process of moving some 350,000 Victorian employees to Common Rule Federal Awards will commence
On 1 January 2005 the process of moving some 350,000 Victorian employees to Common Rule Federal Awards will commence. This significant legislative change will have a great impact on many Victorian businesses and will have a direct and immediate effect on the terms and conditions of employment. It’s important for employers to learn as much as they can about the impending changes before 1 January 2005, according to the Office of the Employment Advocate (OEA). As such, the OEA and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations are running a series of seminars across the stage, which are designed to help Victorian businesses understand the new workplace laws, their implications and the available alternatives. For more information see www.oea.gov.au.
Christmas struggles with candidate shortages
Businesses are showing increased confidence in the lead up to Christmas translating to more jobs than employees in the final quarter of 2004, according to Adecco. The combination of ongoing low unemployment and seasonal hiring is supporting increased activity in the job market, said Christine Shewry, CEO of Adecco. She said there were was also a focus on vacancies in blue collar roles as well as retail sales positions as business ramps up in time for Christmas. However industries requesting the greatest number of staff solutions were in the manufacturing, transport, logistics and government aviation environments.
BP asks British staff to stop having sex in the office
British Petroleum recently sent managers a memo after some staff were caught on CCTV cameras having sex in toilets, meeting rooms and behind cabinets. The memo read: “A reminder to your teams that some areas of the office are covered by CCTV. Whilst this hasn’t been any use whatsoever in identifying people nicking bits and bobs from desks, it has highlighted that a number of staff have been having sex in the office. Clearly, this proved of great excitement to the security staff who have to monitor footage. When faced with a view of the stationery cupboard and a view of two people going at it in a meeting room, guess which one they chose to watch.” BP said the memo was a humorous way of drawing attention to health and safety issues.
