Australia: Restructuring the business? Tips to reduce the pain dividend

If you’re planning on making structural changes which may result in an employee’s role no longer being required, don’t forget to address your obligations around redundancy.

Those obligations may be found either in the Fair Work Act, a contract of employment, or any award or enterprise agreement applying to your employees.
When is redundancy pay due?
Under the Act, unless you’re a small business employer, an employee with more than 1 year’s continuous service is entitled to […]

By | December 7th, 2014 ||

Australia: How can a footballer walk out on an employment contract?

Paddy Ryder has been in the news lately. Not just because of his talent but because of the drama surrounding his recent move from crisis-plagued Essendon to current AFL darling, Port Adelaide.

Ryder’s actions have been of keen interest to football fans and lawyers alike as we try to understand how an employee, in this case a footballer, can be allowed to walk out on a contract mid-term.
Background
In mid-2012, Ryder entered into a four year […]

By | December 7th, 2014 ||

United States: A New Type Of ERISA-Based Hold-Up—The Rise Of Out-Of-Network Provider Suits Against Self-Funded Health Care Plans

Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of physicians who have dropped out of Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) networks and attempted to negotiate their own financial reimbursement with insurance companies and self-funded health care plans related to medical treatment provided to participants whose plan are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA).

These moves have led to a […]

By | December 5th, 2014 ||