Planning for the silly season

Make your end-of-year festivities jolly and safe! See slides from a recent webinar faciliated by Fair Farms with some workplace essentials including Public Holidays and Rates WHS issues, anti-discrimination laws and other work related rules on how to stay safe over the festive period.

Key messages:

Social events (like Christmas parties) are sufficiently work-related to expose your company to a number of WHS, discrimination, and harassment issues. You need to be aware of these risks and take action to limit them.

Employees don't have to work on public holidays, but if they do agree to work on the holiday they must either be paid the appropriate penalty rates (rates under the National fair work system were provided) or given a substituted day off with full pay (even if they are a casual). If the employee is later required to work on the substituted day off they must be paid the public holiday rate.