United States: Cash Balance Plans A Bright Spot In Dreary Defined Benefit Landscape

There are two primary types of pension plans: defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. Defined benefit plans provide each eligible employee with a specific benefit at retirement, while defined contribution plans specify the amount of contributions to be made by the employer toward an eligible employee’s retirement account.

A cash balance plan is a defined benefit plan that defines the benefit in terms that are more characteristic of a defined contribution plan. As recently […]

By | December 29th, 2014 ||

Australia: Our "TOP 10" Employment, Workplace & Ssfety issues from 2014

1. IMPLIED TERM OF TRUST AND CONFIDENCE? HIGH COURT SAYS “NO” …
After many years of uncertainty, the High Court finally clarified in September that there is no implied term of mutual trust and confidence in employment contracts under the common law in Australia.

The High Court’s decision in Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Barker[1] closes off the implied term as a potential cause of action for employees seeking redress against various forms of adverse or […]

By | December 28th, 2014 ||

Australia: Three quick health & safety lessons for employers

Incident 1
An employer was recently penalised for an OH&S breach by the Regulator, irrespective of the fact that an incident had not actually occurred. The Company was ordered to pay almost $10,000 in fines and costs by the Magistrates Court. The company pleaded guilty to failing to properly guard their salting tumblers.

This prosecution followed a visit conducted by a WorkCover Authority of Victoria Inspector in October 2013, who discovered that there was inadequate perimeter […]

By | December 25th, 2014 ||