1 February 2010

The Australian Tax Office has announced that their e-Record computer program aimed at small business will no longer be available as of the 2010-11 tax year. As of 30 September 2010, e-Record will no longer be supported by the ATO.

For those businesses who use e-Record to manage their tax records, it will be necessary to switch to an alternative record-keeping software.

The ATO have advised that this decision was made on the basis that e-Record was no longer compatible with current commercial record keeping systems and would need significant redevelopment to keep up with technology and new business directions. The ATO determined that this redevelopment was not an appropriate course of action.

The Australian Made logo has had its most successful year in its 24 year history with a record 46% increase in the number of businesses signing up to use the logo.

Australian consumers have made it clear that they want to buy Australian and look for the famous logo to do so.

“Every day, consumers around Australia make conscious decisions to buy products made here in Australia,” said Australian Made, Australian Grown campaign chief executive Ian Harrison.

“They do so, because they understand that buying Australian means quality products made by Australian workers to high standards in the local environment – investing back into their own community. The growth we have experienced is thanks to these consumers who make every day Australia Day by supporting local businesses.”

The much loved green and gold symbol can be found on more than 10,000 products sold in Australia and around the world.

“The growth over the past year has been nothing less than extraordinary. In a year where some of Australia’s iconic businesses have cut jobs and moved production overseas, we’ve seen a resurgence growth in the sign-up of local businesses looking to promote that their products are Australian,” Mr Harrison said.

“It is perhaps not surprising. Consumers are clearly looking for Aussie products, so it makes sense for Australian growers, processors and manufacturers to promote their goods as such, and the simplest and most effective way to do that is to use the Australian Made logo.”

The green and gold logo is the most trusted and recognised symbol for products that are truly Australian. Research conducted by Roy Morgan Research in July 2009 shows that 94% of consumers recognise the symbol while 85% trust it over any other Australian country of origin identifier.

It’s alarming that a majority of the striking LNG workers in the State’s north west defied two court orders last week, including an injunction by the Federal Court.

The State’s peak organisation representing local business, CCI, believes the strike involving workers on Woodside’s Pluto LNG project reinforced the need for there to remain a well-resourced agency with sufficient powers to police the building and construction industry.

The workers, in contempt of court, unnecessarily delayed the construction of an important resource project for the State.

Last week the Federal Court ruled the workers were breaking the law.

CCI made the application for an interim injunction on behalf of 13 contractors involved in the construction of Woodside’s Pluto LNG project.

After a short hearing, the court agreed with CCI’s submission that the workers were waging an illegal strike and were in defiance of an earlier ruling by Fair Work Australia ordering them to return to work.

The Federal Court ruling forced the striking workers to end their trivial and costly strike immediately. They were not only breaking the law, but causing unnecessary economic harm and jeopardising future investment in the State.

CCI welcomed the court’s ruling and urged the striking workers to respect the umpire’s decision.

Doing so would not only avoid the risk of further legal action and possible fines and damages being issued against the individual workers, but give them the best chance of resolving the dispute through negotiation with their employer.

CCI was also concerned that the strike exposed shortcomings in the new industrial relations system. Sadly, the system, and those appointed to uphold the law, have so far been unable to hold unions, and workers, accountable for illegal activity.

The State’s peak body representing local business, CCI, strongly supports measuring the performance of students and schools so that educators, parents and students can track how they are performing, and where improvement can be made.

The results of the latest round of national benchmark testing of students shows more needs to be done to ensure our children have the knowledge and skills needed for life.

Western Australia is preparing to enter a new era of economic growth and prosperity, which will require a greater number of skilled workers. CCI believes the time has come to

review the way our children are taught, and our schools run.

An examination of the latest NAPLAN results shows local students are not meeting national standards for language, literacy and numeracy – the building blocks for future learning.

The performance of WA students is amongst the lowest of all the States, and across all categories.

The Western Australian business community, which depends on a well trained and educated workforce, knows that changes are needed to the way our schools are run.

CCI, in a detailed research paper released last year, examined the teaching profession, early childhood education, the primary and secondary school system, school curriculum, and structural reform in the sector.

The paper sets out a comprehensive reform agenda for the education system designed to ensure all students have the skills they need to transition to further education, training, or into the workforce.

The Building a Better Tomorrow: Education Reform in WA discussion paper made a number of recommendations, including that schools and the local community should have a greater say over how their school is run; reconsider the long standing policy of reducing the student to teacher ratio through smaller class sizes; and a greater focus on literacy and numeracy in the early years of education.

Building a better education system is needed to ensure the State has a well educated and trained workforce to meet the needs of a growing economy.

Health Services Australia will begin trading under the new name of Medibank Health Solutions effective from today.

Medibank Health Solutions will continue to offer immigration visa medical services for temporary and permanent visas from the existing 13 HSA locations across Australia.

Further information is available here.

All HSA locations with the exception of Parramatta will retain their contact and address details.

The new website for Medibank Health Solutions is www.medibankhealth.com.au.

For further information, contact CCI Migration Services (MARN 0318589) on (08) 9365 7521 or email visas@cciwa.com.

Over 150 eminent guests from the legal and business world attended the official inauguration of the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) expanded regional Asia office in Singapore last week.

The office was opened by Ho Peng Kee, Singapore Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law; John Beechey, Chairman, International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce; and Jason Fry, Secretary General, International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Leaders from several of ICC’s representative offices in Asia, including ICC Indonesia, ICC Malaysia, ICC Singapore and ICC Sri Lanka, attended as did Mustafa Mansur, ICC Regional Coordinator, Asia Pacific.

The regional office will be managed by ICC Regional Director for Trade and Policy Ms Lee Ju Song. Ms Lee’s responsibilities include fostering ICC cooperation with regional economic groupings – such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – to create a more conducive business environment in the region.

In December 2009, Kim Kit Ow was appointed Asia Regional Director for ICC Arbitration and Amicable Dispute Resolution, ICC regional office, Asia. Ms Ow, who has a broad legal background, will work in close cooperation with ICC members in the region to promote ICC’s dispute resolution services. She will also help to organize training programmes and regional arbitration forums.

Trade Minister Simon Crean recently announced the appointment of Mr Peter Grey as the new chief executive officer of the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade).

Mr Grey has extensive experience both in Australia and overseas in prosecuting Australia’s trade and commercial relationships. He is presently the Australian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. Before taking up this appointment, Mr Grey held a range of senior positions within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, being appointed Deputy Secretary in 1994.

“Throughout his career Mr Grey has worked closely with Australia’s business community and he will draw on this experience and network to further develop Austrade’s strategic relationship with Australian exporters and the broader commercial sector,” Mr Crean said.

Mr Grey has been at the centre of the development and implementation of Australian trade policy and negotiations since the early 90s with his career almost exclusively at the interface between government and business, both internationally and in Australia.

Enterprise Connect has special offers for attendees of the Business Recovery Seminar and the Business and Accounting Software Solutions Expo on 18 March 2010.

The offers include:

• Discussion with an Enterprise Connect Business Adviser at the seminar. John Clegg (business adviser for two years) and others will be available to meet and discuss your specific issues.
• Clarification of eligibility and benefits. 
• Arrangements to potentially visit on your operations or office site if applicable for an initial meeting and operation review.
• General advice and observations from past review experiences and clients who have used the program.  

For more information about the seminar and expo call (08) 9470 9922 or go to www.consultingalliance.com.au.

For more information about Enterprise Connect go to www.enterpriseconnect.gov.au.

The need for National System Employers to review their performance management practises and ensure compliance with the Fair Work Act 2009 has once again come to the fore due to a recent unfair dismissal case before Fair Work Australia.

In Ward v Arcadian Nominees t/as Instant Waste Management [2009] FWA 609, an ex-employee of Instant Waste Management succeeded in his claim that he had been unfairly dismissed by his employer. It was found that the employer had neither a valid reason for terminating the employee’s employment, nor was the employee afforded a fair process.

The employee, who was employed as a sales representative, gave evidence to the effect that his employer terminated him for not meeting sales targets in June 2009. He claimed that on his engagement with the company, no set weekly sales quotas had been stipulated. However, three months into his employment, the company verbally advised him and others of increased sales targets to be achieved.

The employee was terminated by the general manager, who advised that the basis of the dismissal was due to his failure to reach the communicated set sales targets. The employee claimed he had neither been advised of the deficiencies in his performance, nor was he aware of the consequences of his failure to meet those set targets. Despite other employees failing to meet sales quotas, he was the only one to have been terminated on that basis.

In responding to the employee’s claims, the employer put forward that the employee should have been aware of the sales quota by way of monthly management meetings where sales performance was discussed. However, the employer failed to provide witness statements to support his response.

On the basis of the evidence available, Fair Work Australia determined the employee had been unfairly dismissed due to their being no valid reason for the termination. In addition, the unfairness of the dismissal manifested itself in the employer’s failure to provide prior warning of the deficiencies in performance and to communicate the consequences of continued poor performance to the employee.

Whilst the employer did notify the employee of the reason for the termination and allowed the employee an opportunity to respond, this was not sufficient to satisfy Fair Work Australia that the dismissal was not unreasonable. Fair Work Australia did take into account the fact that the business does not have a dedicated human resources function to ensure proper processes are followed. However, the fundamentally requirement to pre-warn an employee that termination may be imminent was weighted heavily in determination of this case.

The employer was ordered to make payment equivalent to nine weeks salary, equalling an amount of $9,522 gross, to the employee in compensation for wages lost between the termination of his employment and the date of the hearing.

It is important to note that the Fair Work Act 2009 outlines criteria that will be considered by Fair Work Australia in determining whether a dismissal is harsh, unjust or unreasonable. These include:

a)      whether there was a valid reason for the dismissal related to the person’s capacity or conduct (including its effect on the safety and welfare of other employees);

b)      whether the person was notified of that reason;

c)      whether the person was given an opportunity to respond to any reason related to the capacity or conduct of the person;

d)      any unreasonable refusal by the employer to allow the person to have a support person present to assist at any discussions relating to dismissal;

e)      if the dismissal related to unsatisfactory performance by the person—whether the person had been warned about that unsatisfactory performance before the dismissal;

f)       the degree to which the size of the employer’s enterprise would be likely to impact on the procedures followed in effecting the dismissal;

g)      the degree to which the absence of dedicated human resource management specialists or expertise in the enterprise would be likely to impact on the procedures followed in effecting the dismissal; and

h)      any other matters that FWA considers relevant.

If you are considering terminating or are in the process of performance managing employees we strongly recommend you seek advice from CCI’s Employee Relations Advice Centre on (08) 9365 7660 or advice@cciwa.com prior to taking any action.

In an important decision for employers currently in the process of, or considering making, an enterprise agreement, Fair Work Australia has rejected an enterprise agreement lodged for approval by Woolworths Ltd.

In its decision on 21 January 2010, Fair Work Australia determined the agreement’s dispute resolution clause did not meet the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009 which necessitates disputes about the agreement or the National Employment Standards be able to be settled by arbitration.

Woolworth’s Enterprise Agreement allowed for Fair Work Australia to settle such disputes but only where the parties to the agreement mutually agreed to allow this to occur. Fair Work Australia rejected this provision in that the power to arbitrate by a third party must not be conditional on the parties mutually agreeing to allow this to occur.

Employers should be cautious when drafting enterprise agreements and seek professional advice prior to lodgement with Fair Work Australia for assessment.

For assistance in drafting your enterprise agreement, contact CCI’s Employee Relations Advice Centre on (08) 9365 7660 or advice@cciwa.com.

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Members have raised concerns over the new first aid allowance that is in some Modern Awards that commenced operation on 1 January 2010. 

Whilst each new modern award has slightly different wording, the general provision requires employers to pay a daily allowance to an employee who holds a first aid certificate and is required by the employer to administer first aid.

For example The Children Services Award 2010 notes:  

Where an employee classified at level 3 or below is required by the employer to administer first aid to children within the employee’s care and the employee holds a current recognised first aid qualification …they will be paid an allowance of …

In this clause, three criteria must be fulfilled before an employee is entitled to the allowance. 

1. (In this Award) the employee has to be classified at level 3 or below;
2. the employer must require the employee to administer first aid; and
3. the employee must hold a current recognised qualification.

The crucial phrase is ‘is required by the employer’.  Employers need to appoint in writing one or more employees to be the designated first aid officer.  The employer should make it clear (eg through a policy) how matters should be managed so that these officers are the only employees authorised to deal with first aid injuries. If an employee is appointed as a ‘back up’, the employer needs to specify when they will/will not ‘be required’ to administer first aid. 

In regard to the Children Services Award 2010 cited above, an employer would not have to pay this allowance if a Level 4 employee or above is the appointed first aid officer. In emergencies or on excursions – a Level 3 may be appointed on a ‘one off’ occasion and be paid the allowance for the day.

Members should contact the Employee Relations Advice Centre to consider the specific clause that applies in their Modern Award.

Tourism marketing campaigns targeting all of Western Australia’s short haul overseas markets will be given a $1.35 million boost to help the tourism industry turn the corner following the global financial crisis.

Tourism Minister Liz Constable said Tourism WA was able to secure $450,000 of Federal funding after matching the figure with $450,000 of its own. An additional $450,000 was raised through Tourism WA’s airline partners.

“The funding helps the tourism industry recover from the effects of the global financial crisis and complement marketing strategies already in place,” Dr Constable said.

“Although the WA tourism industry weathered the financial storm better than some, this funding will help increase confidence among operators and help them capitalise on a return of consumer confidence and international travel.”

The funding is part of a $20 million tourism campaign - $11 million coming from airlines and State and regional tourism bodies and $9 million provided by the Federal Government.

“This new marketing activity will work alongside and reflect Tourism WA’s new brand campaign to be launched in February,” the Minister said.

Markets targeted with new campaigns running until June 30 were China, Japan, Singapore, NZ and Malaysia.