Hello!
I have been busy compiling your favourite workplace newsletter – a combination of things you need to know and things that will make you laugh out loud. In this issue there’s a workplace trend, news snippets, legislation and case updates and sage advice in the “Dear Jen” column.
And of course, I share my recommendations for your viewing pleasure.
I hope this newsletter brings you some wisdom and joy!
Cheers,
Jen
What trend am I seeing out there in the workplace world?
The cost of living crunch – hitting both employers and employees – at the same time, from opposite directions.
High inflation through 2025 has meant the cost of rent, groceries and services has outpaced real wage growth. Employees feel it every time they tap their card, so they’re asking for pay rises.
But employers are facing the same inflationary pressure. The cost of doing business has climbed, margins are tighter, and the pay-rise kitty is looking a little anaemic.
Take Out Point: When inflation bites, it doesn’t play favourites – everyone does it tough.
Unlocking Leadership Potential
Behind every high-performing team is a leader who is continuously evolving. Managers and leaders are expected to deliver results, inspire people and navigate complexity, often all at once. Sometimes, what’s needed isn’t more information but a space to think differently, explore new angles and gain clarity.
Leading HR Consultant Deborah Stonley works with leaders and managers who are ready to:
- Grow their leadership impact
- Navigate sensitive people dynamics
- Take the next step in their careers
- Think differently and explore new angles
Deborah offers individual programs that unlock potential, build confidence, and align personal growth with business outcomes.
Contact Deborah: deborah@jenniferbicknell.com.au | 0419 203 600
Or Jennifer Bicknell: jen@jenniferbicknell.com.au | 0411 275 920
Job of the Week – Professional Baby Namer
A Brisbane-based professional baby namer charges up to $200 a consult to run “namestorms” for parents – and has built a 200,000-strong Instagram following in the process. Proof that in 2026, even outsourcing your child’s identity is now a billable service.
Take Out Point: If you can package instinct, Instagram and a niche anxiety into a service, there’s probably a market for it.
See: Professional baby name consultant (behind paywall)
And You Think You Work Hard!
The Winter Olympics are what happens when someone decides flat ground and temperature control is overrated. And it’s not just the athletes going hard.
Take French choreographer Benoît Richaud, who worked with 16 figure skaters from 13 different countries at the 2026 Winter Games.
Sixteen. Skaters. Thirteen. Countries.
He had to change his jacket every time a different skater came on.
That’s not choreography – that’s diplomatic ice management.
See: The Winter Olympics coach with 16 athletes from 13 countries
Buzzword of the Week: GenAI
GenAI is that eerily efficient colleague who never sleeps and always volunteers to draft the first version. It turns rambling meeting notes into tidy summaries, blank pages into confident emails, and “I’ll get to it later” into “Done”. Slightly unnerving. Very convenient.
Take Out Point: It’s sold as a productivity superpower – and often is – but it also changes what ‘doing the work’ looks like. The drafting is instant, but the responsibility still sits with a human. Especially when the robot confidently invents things that never happened.
Salon’s “Private” Wedding Chat Goes Public
The co-founder of a prominent Sydney hair salon has apologised after messages were mistakenly sent to a group chat that included the client.
The salon had been engaged to style the bridesmaids only, while the bride chose a different stylist, but screenshots show blunt remarks about the bride, her husband and the dresses. These circulated online after a TikTok post exposed the exchange. The tone of the chat shifted once the bride responded…
Take Out Point: Rule to live by: assume every WhatsApp message will end up on TikTok.
See: Wedding salon’s ‘secret chat’ goes public (Behind paywall)
FWC President Announces Procedures Reform in the Face of AI
Justice Adam Hatcher, President of the Fair Work Commission, has given a speech in which he addressed the significant impact of AI on the FWC.
He indicated that “by the end of this financial year, it is likely that the FWC’s total workload will have increased by over 70% in the space of three years” and “this is principally being caused by the increasing use of AI tools by potential litigants”.
In the near future all forms will be modified to include an AI disclosure requirement. If GenAI was used in preparing an application, the Applicant will be required to confirm that they have checked all details to ensure they are correct and relevant and they must include hyperlinks to all case law.
Take Out Point: As AI increases the volume of claims, procedural reform is only going one way – tighter, faster, more structured. Employers will welcome it. (As will their lawyers).
See: Presentation to the Victorian Bar Association on 18 February 2026.
“A disrupted future: Artificial intelligence and the Fair Work Commission”
4 March 2026 – Grammar Day. A great excuse to gently correct colleagues… or apologise for doing it all year.
6 March 2026 – National Dentist’s Day. (No, I don’t understand why they get a day either).
6 March 2026 – Employee Appreciation Day. A golden opportunity to remind employers that appreciation costs less than recruitment.
8 March 2026 – International Women’s Day. Honouring the achievements of women – and the work still to be done.
10 March 2026 – International Day of Awesomeness. Invented by someone’s mum, presumably. Perfect for spotlighting team wins or the colleague who fixed the printer without swearing (publicly).
1 July 2026 – Payday Super commences. (Start preparing now)!
1 July 2026 – Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Scheme increases again and reaches 26 weeks, paid at the minimum wage.
LEGISLATION YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
NSW Passes Digital Work Systems Laws
NSW has passed the controversial Work Health and Safety Amendment (Digital Work Systems) Bill 2026, introducing a new “Digital Work System Duty” aimed at regulating AI, algorithms and digital platforms used to allocate and monitor work.
The laws require a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to ensure digital systems do not create risks to physical or psychosocial health, including stress and fatigue.
Unions have welcomed the reforms as protections against AI-driven work intensification and surveillance. Employer groups, including the Business Council of Australia, argue the amendments represent regulatory overreach and could grant unions unprecedented access to sensitive workplace data and systems.
Take Out Point: If digital tools shape how people work, they now sit firmly inside your NSW WHS duties.
See: Work Health and Safety Amendment (Digital Work Systems) Bill 2026
CASE YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
The FWC has found that a national sales manager’s use of his work email to send his résumé to a gym business during business hours did not justify summary dismissal.
The employer discovered the email shortly after the manager requested personal leave and terminated his employment.
The FWC held that it did not amount to serious misconduct justifying immediate dismissal. The employer was ordered to compensate the employee for his lost earnings of 15 weeks’ pay, being $28,374.30.
Take Out Point: Using a work email to explore other opportunities may be ill-advised, but it will not automatically meet the high threshold for summary dismissal.
See: Josh Westerberg v Volando Group Pty Ltd (U2025/15030)
Dear Jen,
I had too much to drink at after‑work drinks with clients.
I won’t share the full play‑by‑play, but it involved flying objects, minor injuries and a TikTok I wish didn’t exist.
My boss has now fired me for damaging the firm’s reputation.
What should I do next?
Humbly,
Unemployed and Mortified
Dear Unemployed and Mortified,
When work drinks turn into a contact sport – and end up online – employers will take a dim view. Especially where clients are involved and reputations are on the line.
Whether the dismissal is lawful will depend on the details but “I was just having fun” rarely ages well on TikTok.
For now: own it, and going forward, treat work drinks like work – because legally they usually are.
Cheers,
Jen
Formula 1: Drive to Survive (Netflix)
It’s back. And I am giddy. Who would have thought that a humble documentary about men who drive in circles would result in an obsession that has given me, during the Formula 1 season, the sleeping pattern of a shift worker.
Glitter and Gold: Ice Dancing (Netflix)
The ice dancing equivalent of Drive to Survive. Sadly, only 3 episodes, but just enough to send me down a Google rabbit-hole trying to untangle the judging controversy at the Winter Olympics.
The Night Manager (Amazon Prime)
Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman were brilliant in season 1 – back in 2016. No idea why it took a decade to deliver season 2, but I’m very glad they finally did. A former British soldier becomes a hotel manager and then… [insert spoiler]. If you missed season 1 the first time around, start there. Then binge.
Shrinking (Apple)
Everyone’s favourite grumpy comedian Harrison Ford is back for season 3 as a therapist trying to keep his grieving colleague, Jason Segel, vaguely functional. It’s funny, gentle and surprisingly heartfelt.
Champagne Problems (Netflix)
A mergers and acquisitions exec travels to France to broker a champagne brand sale but, plot twist, the founder’s son is hot. Will there be love? Of course there will. Light, fizzy and entirely predictable Hallmark-style movie in the best way.
