Farmers to be impacted by proposed new labour hire laws
July 19th, 2021
The Weekly Times has reported that Victoria’s peak farming body has raised concerns over new proposed laws before State Parliament that would give labour hire workers greater rights and protections.
The Victorian Government introduced the Occupational Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 to Parliament late last month, with the aim of extending the definition of “employer” and “employee” to ensure labour hire workers are considered employees of their host employer, such as a farmer.
A statement explained that under current laws, the host employer does not owe labour hire workers the same health and safety duties as they do their own staff.
The Melbourne CBD. Source: Getty.
The Victorian government has launched a taskforce to address sexual harassment in workplaces across the state through the development of a range of new reforms, including a mandatory incident-notification scheme.
The taskforce, announced by Workplace Safety Minister Ingrid Stitt, Minister for Women Gabrielle Williams, and acting Premier James Merlino on Monday, will look at ways to bolster the occupational health and safety framework to address sexual harassment.
The group will also clarify employer obligations to improve accountability, consider ways to prevent the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in sexual harassment matters, and support workers to speak up against sexual harassment.
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