Employment law naturally attracts common misconceptions about the rules and regulations governing the workplace. These misconceptions often lead to misunderstandings and detrimental consequences for both employees and employers. In this article, I debunk five common employment law myths in Australia and provide clarity around the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers. Setting the Scene continue reading
The responsible creation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging nemesis for lawmakers. In a recent case involving OpenAI, the Federal Court in San Francisco (the Court) is considering whether the utilisation of copyrighted texts to train ChatGPT (and its subsequent language models) is a violation of intellectual property. Who is OpenAI? OpenAI is a continue reading
Bonuses are a long-standing and largely effective method of encouraging higher levels of performance from the employees of your business. Given bonuses are usually set on an economic basis, e.g. if we can secure (a) level of performance then we can afford to pay (b) to the employee, it is imperative that there are no continue reading
It is becoming more prevalent, in connection with commercial/retail shop leases, for financiers of both Landlords and Tenants to seek the other party to enter into a direct “side deed”. For example, the Tenant’s financier will (in addition to taking a mortgage over the Lease), seek direct contractual relations with the Landlord in order to continue reading
On 26 March 2021, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act) was amended to make significant changes to casual employment. These changes affected every national system employer in Australia that employs casual employees. One of the key amendments required employers (with 15 or more employees) to proactively offer casual who were eligible, the opportunity continue reading
The term “branding” originates from the practice of marking cattle with a branding iron to differentiate them from the stock of other farms. But the concept of branding as we understand it today is far removed from those humble origins. Brands are no longer limited to a logo or name; branding comes in many shapes continue reading
Businesses can be unpredictable. If you’ve secured a Commercial Lease and then for whatever reason have to walk away from it, it’s vital to know what your options are. 1. Rent Holiday or temporary reduction of rent If you need to exit your lease due to financial hardship, then you may wish to first consider continue reading
Last month we touched on 5 great tips to help you secure a better lease agreement for your commercial lease. If you’re feeling confident you can go straight to the negotiation table and make a go of it… unfortunately, you might find that your landlord has the upper hand. As is often the case, the continue reading
So, you’re setting up shop somewhere else — literally. Well done you! We have no doubt that you’ve shortlisted a few prime spots on realcommercial.com and already started imagining your business filling the space perfectly. But, before you get too far ahead of yourself we need to ask: how is your grip on lease negotiation? continue reading
So you’ve got a great idea for a new invention. Something that will make that food-materializing microwave from Fifth Element look like a lousy toaster oven. Congratulations! You’re going to be a squillionaire! But what do you do next? First, you’ll want to patent your design to ensure that no one else can profit from continue reading
Busy creative professionals like graphic artists, web designers and copywriters will know how much time and effort goes into working on a new brand for a client. Once those creative juices start flowing, the rush of inspiration often leaves little room to consider possible legal ramifications and financial consequences. These are seen as mind-numbing technicalities, continue reading
Trusts have become an extremely popular tool in business and personal asset protection and tax minimisation strategies. A common misconception with a Trust is that it is a legal entity in the same mould as a person or a company. People will often say “my trust owns this” or “my business is a trust”. Whilst continue reading
There is no doubt that 2013 was a huge year of change in respect of the laws applying to small and large businesses. This will continue throughout 2014. I recently presented the 2014 Business Legislation Update Seminar for the Australian Institute of Company Directors on the Sunshine Coast. Some of the key areas I addressed continue reading
I have recently been asked about partnerships generally, and what distinguishes them from other business structures. It is important to have a firm understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of a partnership, before entering into one, to run a business. What is a partnership? A partnership is essentially an agreement made between 2 to 20 continue reading
The Australian Privacy Principles On 12 March 2014, the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cth) will come into effect. This amending Act drastically bolsters existing privacy protection measures offered to consumers and reflects increasing public concerns regarding the handling of personal information by businesses, particularly in the on-line environment. The Act also introduces continue reading
In difficult financial climates, the businesses that flourish are those that are not afraid to diversify the products or services that they offer to their clients or customers. Whether it is offering a new product to target a lower income segment of the market, or a Smartphone App to allow clients to access services remotely, continue reading
I was recently invited to sit on Your Business Panel. The panel was put together with the objective of assisting business owners by providing expert advice from different professions, in a unique question and answer session. One question asked during the panel’s session highlighted to me the importance of asset protection in the structure of continue reading
