Questions tagged [australia]

Questions about the workplace that may specifically relate to cultures or customs in Australia

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12 votes
5 answers
8k views

How should I reject a promotion that is based on compliance rather than merit?

I have been given the prospect of a promotion, which really is just a title change that comes with more responsibility, but not more money or more authority. But it has happened that someone (let's ...
  • 163
-2 votes
3 answers
444 views

How to find an IT job in Australia as an offshore applicant with strong experience and expertise?

I am a professional with 10+ years' work experience in software engineering and data industry based in China, and right now I'd like to find opportunities in Australia (all regions) for better living ...
8 votes
7 answers
2k views

Co-worker commenting on my clothing? what do I do?

I have just started a new role as a workplace health and safety officer. Recently, I travelled to a different work location for an important safety meeting. In this meeting was a couple of my ...
  • 105
64 votes
10 answers
65k views

Employer made me redundant, then retracted the notice after realising that I'm about to start on a new project

The company I work for called me into a meeting out of the blue last Friday, notifying me that they do not have any work they foresee me being able to do in the next 3 months and were terminating me ...
1 vote
2 answers
401 views

How much stalling is acceptable and fair when deciding between two jobs?

I'm looking for a new role after redundancy. I interviewed with two places. (A) is a 12 month contract, great vibe, lots of learning opportunities and well-known. It would be ideal in many ways. I've ...
-4 votes
1 answer
237 views

Is it legal to work in Western Australia without permanent residency? [closed]

I'm a student who moved to Western Australia for the next two years. I'm a minor, and I moved with the rest of my family because of my father's job, but, the visa we are here on means we are not ...
0 votes
2 answers
798 views

How to deal with dangerous co-worker? [duplicate]

I'm nineteen, female, and stuck working at a very unprofessional outback horse boarding place. I live in a bush town that's on the cusp of small and medium. The employees (4) all live on-site and work ...
37 votes
5 answers
18k views

My boss says he's jealous when I tell him about a work achievement

On several occasions, where I've made a breakthrough in my (highly intellectual, but non-academic) work, I feel accomplished and very proud of my achievement. But, when I go and tell my boss about ...
  • 578
76 votes
9 answers
12k views

Should I give my employer all my medical records?

I have been a software developer in a large organization for more than a decade. I have ADHD and see a psychiatrist every 3 weeks. Boss is now demanding access to all my health records or said he will ...
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

Is it legal for my company to ask me to do unpaid overtime?

Let's say I am a full-time employee with an employment contract stating that I have a 38-hour work week. Is it legal for my employer to present another document that extends the working hours? Is ...
  • 181
2 votes
4 answers
2k views

Does teaching experience count as customer service experience?

I have recently moved to Australia. English is not my first language but people can more or less understand what I say. I plan to study further after the pandemic ends. I am now applying for retail / ...
user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
303 views

Should I advise colleagues about a booster shot? [duplicate]

Is it proper etiquette to inform your work colleagues that you are getting a covid booster shot in the future and you may be put out of commission on that day? Or should you keep it to yourself? I am ...
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Can a company retract a signed offer due to hiring freeze?

I've received an attractive job offer from a company that has in the past implemented hiring freezes due to covid related events. There is currently a lot of hysteria around the new covid variant and ...
  • 18.3k
12 votes
4 answers
6k views

How to politely tell recruiters I'm not interested unless the position pays well (>$100k)?

Lately I have been getting a lot of messages from recruiters. Probably not too many, but at least 2-3x a week. I've also heard a lot of places need software engineers like myself. I am currently happy ...
  • 247
0 votes
2 answers
560 views

Does HR of my company have an obligation to provide related documents

Just wanted to know, if an HR department has an obligation towards employees. Let's say I need a document of employment generated by HR, needed by a service provider. I am following up with HR for ...
  • 440
41 votes
6 answers
15k views

Being forced to take annual leave against my wishes, what are my options?

I reside in Australia and I'm currently working remotely. This week my employer felt I was no longer capable of carrying out my duties due to mental health issues, which were partly the result of my ...
user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
873 views

Resigning during probation period - can I ask for a different role?

I have been in my current role for 4 months (working remotely), and am currently on a 6-month probation. The role involves far more web development than I was expecting, rather than the other areas I ...
5 votes
4 answers
1k views

I've been given knowingly conflicting instructions by my direct supervisor and their supervisor

There is conflict in my workplace that is much higher up than me. I am a receptionist/admin person in a small branch of a large organisation. As a result of this situation, I have been given ...
0 votes
1 answer
579 views

How do I articulate clearly selection criteria when I want to move from academia (after Science Ph.D.) to industry and work for that employer?

After the Ph.D. (in Molecular Sci), I decided to move to the industry job. When I am writing job application selection criteria essays (this is a must thingy in Australia), How do I articulate clearly ...
-1 votes
3 answers
772 views

Should I bring up family expansion plans in interviews as a man? [closed]

Would it be beneficial or detrimental for a young man to reveal his family/relationship status during job interviews? Would it be better to maintain an attitude of strict non-disclosure regarding your ...
23 votes
19 answers
14k views

How can I get employees to respect the leave policy?

I have taken over the management of a child care center. The problem that I am hoping to address at the very least is staff who calls in sick very late in the night the day before. We have about 20 ...
  • 7,521
3 votes
3 answers
497 views

Redundancy for transitioning from employee to contractor

I am currently a web developer for an Australian company, in a full time salaried position. Due to COVID we have much less work, and redundancies are expected. My manager has been put under pressure ...
  • 413
4 votes
2 answers
764 views

What licence to provide with code for possible employment?

I am looking at getting my first full-time employment at a web design company. They have given me a design to recreate which they WILL be using in a presentation for a client. My question is, what ...
user avatar
18 votes
4 answers
2k views

Being a good mentor to software developers whose skills are below-par

For the last ten years, I have worked as the only senior developer in a team of 4-5 developers within a larger organisation, supporting a range of corporate systems. Within the first couple of years, ...
3 votes
3 answers
455 views

What exactly is an honours degree? [closed]

For your info, I am a 17yr high school student currently live in Australia. As the applications for university entry is just around the corner, I am searching for an appropriate degree that suits my ...
3 votes
1 answer
771 views

Organisation refusing to train me

EDIT: To include comments, to make it more cohesive. I have been working in my job for four years. My job is a very technical one, and to be 'qualified' to do the job I am doing (according to HR at my ...
17 votes
4 answers
4k views

Workplace email says Coronovirus Tracking App is mandatory for work, despite Government saying it's optional

I work for an IT firm and am currently the person in charge of doing onsite troubleshooting for PCs in the office while everyone is working from home (Remote Desktop solution we adopt requires out PCs ...
-1 votes
4 answers
495 views

My current company agreed to take me back after I had another offer rescinded. Is it acceptable to start applying again immediately?

I've been with my current company (Company A) for about a year and 4 months. A couple of months back I decided to start applying for new opportunities due to issues with my pay and personal growth. ...
1 vote
1 answer
167 views

What should I consider when negotiating a part-time, salaried position?

I'm currently reviewing an employment agreement for a permanent part-time (3 days/week) role. The agreement includes the following (simplified) clause: The employee agrees and acknowledges that [...
  • 496
2 votes
2 answers
447 views

How can I handle job offers when I'm on a student visa?

I've been living about six months abroad on a student visa. Currently, I am receiving many offers to work here, but I'm always blocked because my visa limitations. How could I approach the ...
  • 77
5 votes
1 answer
757 views

How to change manager after giving up on current one who lied about me

A couple of years ago I was reporting to J as one of ten developers, then moved under S, who is the manager of J. The reason was that I am looking after a piece of software (F) which required a higher ...
2 votes
4 answers
634 views

How to negotiate employer's pre-offer requests for personal investment

I am currently interviewing with a company for an interesting position that will allow me to grow professionally. After the initial interviews, the employer is now asking me to study two academic ...
  • 4,337
16 votes
11 answers
8k views

Invoices (owed to me) always late; also late on deliverables (me to them); past monies disputes; being strongarmed

Let me expand on the title as it is directly relevant: I am 26 and this is my first contracting experience, being contracted by this company. The only stipulation is $70 an hour. This is in Australia,...
  • 779
2 votes
5 answers
1k views

Can graduating from university and reaching 1 year help justify a significant (>10%) pay raise?

I was hired by my current company while I was in the final year of my Software Engineering degree. It has been a year since then and I have graduated and work has been going swimmingly. I believe I ...
  • 65
10 votes
3 answers
1k views

How to handle a manager who's not assigning any work

I am relatively new to my current role, being hired as a 'Junior' on a low salary because of my lack of experience with CAD. As part of the hiring process I was told that I would be training with ...
  • 231
0 votes
5 answers
421 views

Recommended training courses for a Junior Software Engineer? [closed]

I've been working at my current job as a Junior Software Engineer for approximately 1 year. I have a performance review coming up soon and know that I will have the opportunity to request additional ...
  • 65
0 votes
1 answer
695 views

Is it illegal to deny or charge customers for receipts? [closed]

I've had an unfortunate experience with a passive aggressive secretary who initially demanded payment when I presented her with a request for a digital record of my invoice/receipt history. I promptly ...
  • 125
8 votes
7 answers
2k views

How should I deal with an overly annoying colleague?

I currently work in an office that houses two separate companies that are owned by the same person. I work for Company A. Annoying colleague works for Company B. Annoying colleague has pretty much ...
  • 199
6 votes
3 answers
2k views

Defense against HR bully

Today a HR representative (G) made a mistake; she left confidential material in the printer, and someone unknown put it on the desk of the person (P) whose name appears on top of the documents. P went ...
11 votes
2 answers
4k views

How to deal with team lead who keeps recommending you new jobs?

Background: I've just joined the firm a month ago and on my first week, I realized there's a mismatch in skills and expectations. Coming from an intensive consulting background to a more relaxed ...
  • 1,071
2 votes
4 answers
857 views

Do employers care about Stack Overflow reputation? [closed]

After reading this old post on Stack Overflow meta. It seemed to indicate that employers might care about your stack overflow reputation/activity in their hiring process for developers. Admittedly, ...
  • 255
13 votes
4 answers
1k views

How do I effectively conduct interviews for adults with special needs?

Recently when the company I work for released an advertisement for a software engineer, we had an applicant indicate that he was on the spectrum (autism) and would require a safe space for ...
  • 7,521
7 votes
3 answers
2k views

Could sharing my salary publicly affect me negatively in the future?

If I was to share my salary history for my entire career publicly, could I get into any strife down the line? The motivation for sharing: I subscribe to the theory that companies actively discourage ...
  • 181
5 votes
2 answers
383 views

Informal Meeting with Team Prior to Starting Work - what is that?

I've been invited to an informal meeting with my hiring manager and some members of my team a week prior to commencing work with the firm. Just a little background, I'm hired as a local expat in ...
  • 1,071
3 votes
2 answers
572 views

What legal action can be taken when you feel you were unfairly dismissed

I'm in Sydney, Australia. I was dismissed after less than 4 months working for this company, my probation period was set for 6 months. The thing is, I was hired as a software developer, but after a ...
4 votes
3 answers
870 views

Is it unprofessional to hide my current salary from hiring managers? [duplicate]

I was interviewed at a place (an IT company) and when I was asked my current salary, I replied that I can't disclose it. The hiring manager said "oh, really? that is strange!" That made me wonder, ...
  • 249
6 votes
2 answers
3k views

Should I say that I need visa sponsorship in my cover letters?

I'm an Indonesian citizen but I have lived in Australia for 10 years, spent my high school, university & 2 years post graduate professional work at Australia. I'm looking for a sponsorship to ...
  • 69
6 votes
3 answers
882 views

Annoying Recruiters

I am looking for a job, so I apply for jobs in one jobs websites in Australia. What I have realized is that I get many calls from recruiting agents, asking me many questions (it takes around 15 min ...
  • 946
4 votes
2 answers
598 views

Being sick working in childcare

I’m a trainee at a day care centre, and I’ve had a lot of time off sick due to the flu I caught from the kids. Work has put a lot of pressure on me to come back to work when I haven’t fully recovered,...
  • 41
4 votes
2 answers
991 views

I developed a personal website between 2 interviews with the same company. Is it good to show them in the second interview?

I will be having my second round of interview this week with the same recruiter but different tech person. I did have an initial interview 2 weeks ago. Between those interviews, I decided to develop a ...
  • 231