The Merton Monthly: August
The past month has been quite eventful for us at Merton Lawyers. We were thrilled to launch Project Frontier and welcome some new team members onboard.
Merton Updates
We are delighted to announce the addition of Nick McKenzie-McHarg as Head of Litigation, along with Bridget Ip, Mitchell Armstrong and Alexia Copley, to the Merton Lawyers team.
Nick is a legal expert who has a wealth of experience in dealing with complex commercial litigation, insolvency, agribusiness, rural family succession planning, and insurance matters. He has a real passion for his clients and is highly skilled in resolving disputes related to the Corporations Act including, but not limited to, disputes involving corporate structuring, director’s common law and statutory duties, voidable and preference transactions, corporate governance and shareholder disputes, as well as insolvent administration and the liquidation of companies.
Alexia has joined Merton Lawyers with a Bachelor of Laws and Property and Real Estate (with distinction) from Deakin University, Alexia is an expert in Owners Corporation, Civil Litigation, and Bankruptcy.
Bridget is a skilled member of the litigation division who specializes in commercial litigation and insolvency law. She handles property, contractual, and shareholder disputes, debt recovery, creditor's petitions, and wind-up applications. She also serves as Communication Co-Chair for Women in Insolvency and Restructuring Victoria, empowering women in the industry and community.
Mitchell is one of our newest members. and with reach across many divisions of the firm, a passion for law and a commitment to excellence, Mitchell plays a vital role in delivering top-notch legal services to our valued clients. Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Laws and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. Mitchell’s studies extend to a Degree in Commerce with a specialisation in finance from Curtin University.
We look forward to working with them all and welcoming them to the Merton team.
Congratulations Isaac Hanna
We are thrilled to announce that Isaac Hanna has been promoted to the position of Senior Associate. Isaac’s focus is advising founders and investors of emerging growth companies in innovation, property and finance. Isaac is a much valued member of the Merton team. He is not only welcoming and inclusive to everyone, but he is also always willing to lend a hand to anyone in need. Additionally, he is a diligent worker who is respected and valued by our clients as he continues to get them excellent results. We appreciate all that Isaac has done for the Merton workplace and are excited for the next chapter of this journey.
Merton Lawyers are proud to launch a multi-year effort developed to establish closer ties between the Australian and American startup and investment sectors.
Merton Lawyers have been incubating Project Frontier since early 2020 as part of the firm's ongoing efforts to assist Australian founders and start-ups. In mid-2021, the firm began a co-creation process, meeting with a number of Australian and American founders, venture capitalists, limited partners and government bodies to better understand their concerns and those of their portfolio companies. This has led to the first service offering within Project Frontier, which involves assisting Australian start ups looking to expand to the US market. The first offering assists Australian founders and startups by introducing them to key US legal advisors from the best Silicon Valley law firms.
Employee or Independent Contractor?
Employers often like to use independent contractors to avoid expenses associated with employees such a taxes, insurance, and employee entitlements. However, unless the terms of the agreement between the parties properly reflect a principal/contractor relationship, there is a risk that the worker will be considered an employee at law.
COVID-19 Vaccination Data
New regulations introduced last year required the collection of vaccination data, but they have now expired.
By August 11th, employers need to ensure that these records are securely destroyed. It's important to note that an individual's COVID-19 vaccination status is considered protected health information under legislation like the Health Records Act and the Privacy Act.
These records can include vaccination certificates, exemptions, or any other identifying information that employers may have gathered regarding their employees' COVID-19 vaccination status.
For more information, please contact us.
Important Workplace Changes
As July has arrived, it is crucial to remind all workplaces of some of the changes that have been made in employment law. Some of the changes are as follows:
The National Minimum Wage has increased to $23.23 per hour or $882.80 per week (based on a 38 hour week), and $29.04 for casuals.
The minimum Superannuation guarantee has been increased to 11%.
Changes to fixed-term contracts which will restrict the usage of any fixed term or maximum term contracts for identical roles for periods exceeding two years or more unless and exception applies.
Pay secrecy changes which took effect from 7 June 2023 ensures transparency around pay rates and working conditions and protects employees from any legal action taken against them for a potential contract breach. Any clauses that relate to keeping pay rates or working conditions secret will not be enforceable.
The High Income Threshold operates as a limit to an employee’s eligibility to be protected from unfair dismissal under the terms of the Fair Work Act. The limit has been raised to $167,500.
The maximum compensation for cases of unfair dismissal will be the lower of these two amounts; half the employee’s annual wage or the compensation cap which is $83,750 for 2023-2024 and changes from 1 July each year.
The tax-free part of genuine redundancy and early retirement scheme payments have been raised to $11,985, with an additional $5,994 granted for each year of completed service
All employees in Australia are eligible for unpaid parental leave if they have completed at least 12 months of continuous service with their employer. The entitlement for parental leave pay has been increased to 20 weeks. An employee on unpaid parental leave is also entitled to 10 keeping in touch days and an employee gets their normal pay and accumulates leave entitlements for each keeping in touch day (or part day).
For personalised legal advice regarding the changes and their implementation in your workplace, get in touch with us today.
What we’re watching
Big talk around the water cooler for the ‘The Bear Season 2' streaming on Disney+. Charles Holmes and Van Lathan share their thoughts on the first two episodes of the return of this beloved series.
What we’re listening to
In this podcast of More or Less, The Lessins and The Morins debate and take different sides on whether seed investing can survive. They also talk about Elon Musk's rebranding of Twitter to 'X' and explore Ruth Porat's intentions at Google.
The Venture City Venture Capital Benchmark Q2 2023
The expression "it's always darkest before the dawn" holds both literal and psychological significance. It was coined by Thomas Fuller, an English theologian, in 1650, to describe how the darkest moment of the day is right before the sun rises and lights up the sky. Over the centuries, the phrase has become a popular rallying cry to inspire pioneers to persevere through seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It suggests that just before experiencing significant victories, people often face their toughest challenges. This is where many startups around the world may find themselves today.
Austrade's US Export Acceleration Bootcamp delivered through the San Francisco Landing Pad.
The US Export Acceleration Boot Camp helps Aussie founders understand what foundations their business needs to succeed and how to build a Go To Market strategy for the US including market validation, TAM, SAM, and SOM, pricing, and establishing the most lucrative channels to market.
Applications close: midnight 14 August 2023 AEDT
Upcoming*
Going Global NSW - AI to the United States
Merton Lawyers are proud to be presenting to the AI cohort of Investment NSW's Going Global Campaign.
Applications close August 13th 2023
Made in Victoria - Industry R&D Infrastructure Fund
Expressions of Interest (EOI) are now open for the Made in Victoria – Industry R&D Infrastructure Fund.
This $15 million fund offers matched grant funding ranging from $250,000 to $2 million for eligible businesses in Victoria. This investment will help enhance Victoria's R&D capability across key industry sectors. Don't miss out on this opportunity to grow your business!
VC Down Under: Uncovering Venture Capital Opportunities in Australia and SE Asia
Galileo Ventures and Artesian Capital are hosting an intimate lunchtime seminar for forward thinking family offices and investors interested in understanding Australia’s VC market and early-stage startups, agtech and climate tech.
Location: 20 N Audley St, Mayfair, London W1K 6LX, UK
Date: Thursday 10 August, 1-2:30pm
In-Person. Limited Places.
Ripple Deep Dive - The Rip Curl Impact Story
Ripple Surf Coast is excited to feature and host Rip Curl for its first DEEP DIVE event.
The deep dive event will journey into the story of this quintessential lifestyle business and its search not only for waves around the world, but also its community and environmental impact culminating in its recent B Corporation certification.
Date: Wed 30th Aug 2023, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm AEST
Location: Rip Curl Torquay, 101 Surf Coast Hwy, Torquay VIC 3228, Australia
Merton Lawyers are proud to moderate an upcoming series of webinars with Global Victoria for founders and investors of emerging growth about the realities of expanding to the US and raising money abroad. Details to follow.
