Monthly Archives

August 2021

Mandatory Employee Vaccine Update

By | Covid-19 | No Comments

Background:

Currently there is a major focus on the rights and obligations of employers to consider mandating Covid-19 vaccinations for their workforce (particularly those in Sydney and Melbourne). The situation evolves constantly. With the recent announcement that SPC has imposed a mandatory Covid-19 vaccine regime on all manufacturing plant workers and pertinent comments from the Prime Minister and Cabinet, all businesses need to reconsider what is right for their workplace.

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Senior Officers of Franchisors Beware

By | Franchising | No Comments

In February 2019, the Federal Court found car detailing and cleaning franchisor Geowash Pty Ltd in breach of numerous obligations under the Australian Consumer Law. Geowash was ordered to pay $4.2 million in penalties, including individual penalties of $1.045 million against Geowash’s director, and $656,000 against Geowash’s franchising manager. The ACCC began investigating Geowash in 2015 and subsequently launched legal proceedings when it was deemed Geowash was making false and misleading representations and acting unconscionably towards its franchisees.

In contravention of the Franchising Code of Conduct, both the director and franchising manager were ordered to pay a further $1 million as partial redress to franchisees and were subsequently disqualified from managing corporations in Australia for a period of five and four years respectively. They jointly appealed this decision in 2021.

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