ARTICLE · 24 FEBRUARY 2017

2016 in Review: Workplace Culture Matters

Walter Baden

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This article considers the major employment law stories for 2016 and their potential impacts into the new year.

AustraliaEmployment and HR

Alecia Thompson

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We consider what the major employment law stories for 2016 were and what their impact might be as we head into the new year.

Parental leave

Leading up to the election, the Coalition scrapped Tony Abbott's maternity leave scheme which promised that mothers would be paid their full income for 6 months.

The policy at that time entitled eligible primary carers who earned less than $150,000 per annum to a maximum of 18 weeks parental leave at minimum wage on top of any paid parental leave from their employer. The Coalition proposed a 'fairer' cut back to the existing system and Labor's election campaign promised no changes to the original policy and a reversal of the cuts proposed by Malcolm Turnbull.

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