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The Fair Work Act – Important Information
The Fair Work Act (Cth) 2009 is the new workplace relations legislation now in place. It replaces the Workplace Relations Act and it is important to have an understanding of this and how it may affect your business.
Is your business affected?
The Act covers constitutional corporations (including some practices with service entity arrangements), employers in ACT and NTand most Victorian employers. Sole Traders and Partnerships are still covered by the existing State Awards.
Some changes effective from 1 July 2009 that you may not be aware of include:
- Businesses with less than 15 full time staff are exempt from unfair dismissal claims from employees with less than 12 months service. Businesses with 15 or more staff are exempt from unfair dismissal claims from employers earning more than $100,000 per annum and have not completed a 6 month qualifying period. The time limit for bringing an unfair dismissal claim is 14 days.
- “Genuine Redundancy” – this will be monitored more closely
- New Enterprise Agreements
- Good Faith Bargaining
- Establishment of Fair Work Australia and it will oversee the new workplace relations system. It will have power to vary awards, approve collective agreements, resolve unfair dismissal claims, make minimum wage orders and decide on workplace disputes.
- Small Business Fair Dismissal Code now in place
Some changes applicable from 1 January 2010:
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National Employment Standards (NES) – outlines the ten minimum conditions of employment:
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Maximum weekly hours of work - 38 hours unless additional hours are reasonable
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Flexible working arrangements - right to request flexible work arrangements
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Parental leave – right to request extra year of parental leave
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Annual leave
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Personal/carers’/compassionate leave - new evidentiary requirements for personal (sick) leave and employees are entitled to 2 days unpaid carers leave for each occasion
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Community service leave
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Long service leave
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Public holidays
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Termination and redundancy pay - legislated minimum redundancy entitlements
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Fair work information statement to be provided to employees www.fwa.gov.au
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Modern awards – Modern awards aim to condense, modernise and simplify the existing awards. A new point that now comes into play is, allowing flexible working arrangements (subject to a “better off overall” test)
Their highlight is allowing flexible arrangements (subject to a “better off overall” test). Variable conditions include overtime / penalty rates, allowances and leave loading.
The modern awards do not apply or cover employees earning over $100,000. To find out more about the modern awards and the possible implications on your business www.fwa.gov.au
Some key points that you should consider:
- Check whether your business is subject to the Act in the first instance
- Determine whether your payroll system allows for changes required and take the necessary steps
- Take time to review your current systems, policies and procedures to ensure compliance with NES and modern awards.
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
The information in this newsletter is quite general in nature and anyone intending to apply it practically to their own circumstances should seek professional advice to verify it’s individual applicability.
If you have any queries regarding the information contained in this
update please do not hesitate to contact us.
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