The second and final stage of Queensland's tough new swimming pool safety laws will come into effect on 1 December 2010,

Under the new laws, pool owners will have five years to make sure their pool complies with the pool safety standard unless they sell or lease the property first.

If the seller hasn't provided a compliance certificate, the owner of the pool is required to get a current pool safety certificate within 90 days.

The maximum penalty for non-compliance is $16,500.

For shared pools associated with short-term accommodation, such as hotels, motels, backpackers or hostels, a six month phase-in period applies to obtain a pool safety certificate.

Stage two includes:

• Mandatory inspections by local governments for immersion incidents of children under five in swimming pools. These incidents will be reported by hospitals and the Queensland Ambulance Service, including voluntary reporting by doctors and nurses
• Child resistant doors that form part of the pool barrier will need to be replaced with a fence
• Councils will no longer be able to have local pool safety laws where state laws apply
• Wider application of pool safety laws to include indoor pools and pools associated with hotels, motels, caretaker residences, caravan parks, backpackers, hostels, mobile home parks and homestays
• All swimming pools must be included, within six months, on a state-based pool register
• Fencing for all portable pools and spas deeper than 300 millimetres

More information at http://www.dip.qld.gov.au/pool-safety/stage-two.html

Fair Work inspectors will this week conduct face-to-face visits to about 80 fast food outlets located in various Brisbane food courts.

They will also visit shops on the Gold Coast and doorknock in Rockhampton, Cairns, Toowoomba and Townsville.

Inspectors will call on a number of take-away shops which have previously been the subject of complaints, while others will be selected at random.

Businesses will be asked to supply employment records to ensure staff are being paid correctly and employers are complying with their record-keeping obligations.

The director of a former Brisbane car rental company has been fined $110,000 over the underpayment of seven workers, following a prosecution by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The manager and sole director of Enterprise Car Rental Group Pty Ltd, which traded as Abel Car Rental at a number of locations throughout Brisbane, before the company went into liquidation.

Federal Magistrate Michael Burnett imposed the fine after finding the director was involved in Enterprise Car Rental Group committing 28 breaches of workplace laws by underpaying seven workers a total of $61,423 between February, 2006 and April, 2008.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is developing a national standard for the fax marketing industry and has released a second discussion paper with a draft standard.

‘The standard will form an important part of the Do Not Call Register scheme, which was recently expanded to allow fax numbers to be listed on the register,’ said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.

The ACMA is inviting comments from consumers and industry about the draft industry standard by close of business,18 November 2010.

The ACMA’s discussion paper Draft Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) Fax Marketing Industry Standard 2010 is available on the ACMA website.

The Minister for Public Works, Robert Schwarten, has announced a statewide audit of Queensland building sites to help ensure all building workers are licensed.

Mr Schwarten said over 100 inspectors from the Building Services Authority (BSA) would visit randomly selected building sites over the next month.

"This crackdown will ensure all persons doing building work are licensed or otherwise operating lawfully," he said.

In 2009-10, BSA staff interviewed 9,594 contractors at 2,604 building sites across the State. As a result, fines totalling $88,000 were issued and 38 investigations are still ongoing.

Any person caught unlawfully performing building work can be fined up to $25,000 while a company can be fined up to $125,000.

If a builder is caught engaging an unlicensed subcontractor, the builder may be fined up to $8000 for a first offence, $12,000 for a second offence and $16,000 for a third or subsequent offence.

The Queensland Government is set to introduce a mandatory code of practice to protect clothing production workers from exploitation.

Attorney-General Cameron Dick has said Queensland's new mandatory code was consistent with those already adopted by New South Wales and South Australia.

"Everyone involved in producing clothing - including employers, suppliers, retailers and outworkers - will be formally identified.

"The new code will introduce a new transparency by imposing mandatory reporting obligations on all participants in the production chain.

Parties who have signed up to the national code will be exempt from the new code. An existing code of practice applies when contracting with the Queensland Government.

The Full Bench of Fair Work Australia has rejected an appeal by the National Retail Association Ltd and Master Grocers Australia Ltd to reduce mandatory minimum shifts under the modern retail award from three hours to two hours.

From 1 October 2010, RSG training is now mandatory for all people carrying out defined gaming duties or tasks in licensed venues.read more...

Existing staff have until 1 July 2011 to undertake the training, while new staff must complete the training within three months.

Licensees must keep a register detailing gaming staff and their qualifications in responsible service of gambling.

Who must do it?
RSG is mandatory for all people carrying out gaming duties or tasks in licensed venues. That includes:

• eligible licensees
• gaming nominee licence holders
• gaming employee licence holders carrying out gaming duties and
• any staff (licensed or unlicensed) carrying out gaming tasks, i.e. issuing or revoking exclusion orders regarding problem gamblers.