Employment & Your Crew

How a worker is classified after Closing Loopholes — the ATO contract test vs the Fair Work s15AA "real substance" test, the multi-factor indicators, the harder sham-contracting defence, and the penalties ($19,800 / $99,000 / $495,000).

How sham contracting is enforced in construction — the joint Fair Work-ATO crackdown, TPAR data-matching, the stacked penalties (Fair Work + back-pay + up to 200% SG), and the genuine-subbie vs sham indicators with a worked example.

How pay is built under the Building & Construction On-site Award — CW1-CW9 classifications, the stable penalty-rate multiples, the all-purpose industry allowance that loads overtime, casual/apprentice rules, and why an EBA still cannot undercut it.

The National Employment Standards for employers — the 11 NES, paid leave (and why 17.5% loading is not one), parental leave + PPL, the notice scale, and the redundancy scale that drops at 10+ years.

How unfair dismissal works for employers — the 6-month / 12-month minimum employment periods, the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code, the strict 21-day lodgement window, conciliation, and the reinstatement-or-capped-compensation remedies.

Where a labour-hire licence is required (VIC, QLD, SA, ACT — no national scheme), the host PCBU safety duty you cannot push onto the agency, and the rule that on-hire tradies get at least the MA000020 award (same job, same pay).

How construction long service leave follows the worker through state schemes — LeavePlus (VIC 2.7%), ACT Leave (2.75%), QLeave (QLD project levy on $150k+ jobs) and the others, plus reciprocal recognition when you move between states.

Construction's portable redundancy layer explained — Incolink (VIC), BERT (QLD/NT) and ACIRT (national), how they differ from portable long service leave, and why ABN subbies are not entitled.

The first-employer setup for a tradie — PAYG/super/STP and workers' comp before payday, the day-one paperwork (TFN, FWIS, CEIS, the award), payslip rules, and the 7-year record-keeping duty.

How payroll tax catches growing tradie businesses — the state rates and thresholds, what counts as wages, the contractor-payments-deemed-wages trap, grouping of related entities, and the apprentice/trainee relief worth claiming.

What the Modern Slavery Act 2018 means for builders below the $100m threshold — why construction and labour-hire are high-risk, the pay, conditions and control red flags, how to vet your labour-hire chain, and how to escalate to Fair Work, the AFP or Border Watch. Guidance only.