Hunt & Hunt Lawyers provided a webinar on the supply chain, commercial & employment law issues

CONTRACTING:

• Assess how COVID-19 impacts your ability to meet contracts, document the impact and your response

• Assess with the COVID-19 impacts is due to a change in law, regulation, third party action or your own voluntary response

• Review what contracts you have in place and how those contracts deal with unexpected events

• When seeking to change the terms of supply/purchase, first see what the contract says

• Play it safe – if the parties agree to vary the terms of the contract of sale/purchase, document it in writing

• Ensure that agreeing to short-term variations to a contract doesn’t constitute an unintended waiver of your rights

• Understand the term ‘Force Majeure’ and how (if at all) this concept affect your rights; also understand how force majeure is applied in different contracts and in different jurisdictions

• Understand that FM clauses are not necessarily automatic or enforceable

• Understand the implications of termination of a contract and what damages can be recovered

• Beware of unfair/discriminatory/one sided contract terms when dealing with small businesses or consumer

• Ensure no deceptive/misleading statements are made on your website and in any standard documents – statements that were once true, may now be incorrect

• Make sure you comply with consumer law when changing or cancelling services

• Know which law applies to your contract

• Understand the legal concept of frustration of contract, and its implications; the rules around Frustration are much stricter than those around FM

• Understand the implications for your long-term contracts and how a breach will affect these

• Be aware of the implications and ramifications of insolvent trading

• Be aware of the address to which statutory demands are being sent – is anyone there to receive them?

• Be aware of the implications of Competition Law; you may be in breach if you agree to cooperate with competitors and be judged in a post-COVID-19 world

EMPLOYMENT:

• Generally, an employee may be stood down without pay during a period in which that employee cannot be usefully employed because there has been a stoppage of work for which the employer cannot be held responsible

• Be aware of any contractual clauses or enterprise agreements that specifically exclude the above

• Employers – activate leave provisions, if leave is available

• Employees – if you have no leave or refuse to activate it, you can be forced to take unpaid leave if there are valid reasons to stand down without pay

• Be aware of the need to re-activate employments, when conditions improve

• Government instructed self-isolation does not obligate an employer to pay wages

• If an employer insists an employee self-isolate, wages remain due if the employee has indicated a willingness and an ability to work

• Employees are obligated to advise risk (e.g. interstate or overseas travel, exposure to infected individuals, etc)

• Employees travelling for work are entitled to wages and expenses if they are in a lockdown situation

• Employees dealing with school closures will generally be entitled to carer leave

• Employers are required by law to take reasonable O H & S measures to reduce the risk of infection