I have been given a warning letter I do not agree with. Do I have to sign it and how I do contest it?

You are not required to sign a warning letter and you should certainly not do so if you consider the warning to be unjust or unreasonable.

What processes should a company follow before making a redundancy payment to you?

If you believe your employer has unfairly or unjustly made your position redundant, it may have failed to follow procedural requirements surrounding the redundancy of your position. Your employer is obliged to follow a process prior to making the redundancy package payment.

Can my employer force me to take annual leave over the Christmas holidays?

With over a quarter of Australian workers forced to take annual leave over the Christmas holidays when business is slow or shut down, it is critical that employees understand their rights in relation to mandated leave.

The general rule is that employers are entitled to direct employees to take annual leave where the request is reasonable. This includes situations where:

• the employee has accrued excessive annual leave; or
• the employer’s operations are temporarily shut down.