MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO – 6 April 2018

UNFAIR CONTRACTS: Notwithstanding the introduction of the 2015 unfair contracts act designed to protect small businesses against the predatory and unfair behaviour of the big end of town, “. . . the big pitt and collins street law firms who have great skills in writing unfair contracts to benefit their large corporate clients have discovered that the regulators of the act, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), have no power to demand a copy of the contract and the small business victims are too scared to provide the ACCC with a copy for fear of retribution.”

Gottliebsen lets them off too lightly, saying: “It would also make sense to attach some small penalty to those found to be in breach.” We would strongly argue that, it would make sense to attach a large penalty to those found to be in breach.

UNFAIR DISMISSALS: A salutary warning for small business from SmartCompany is published below on using social media in cases of unfair dismissals. Social media policies can be a minefield for businesses, but the goal posts are shifting for how the Fair Work Commission deals with workers who are fired for criticising their employers online, according to new research.”