What has changed? One of the major changes that came with the Rudd government is the change to the national employment laws. From 1 January 2010 the new Fair Work Act 2009 came into full effect.
How has the law changed? This new law replaces the old workplace relations systems entirely, and includes many changes to standards, entitlements, unfair dismissal laws, collective bargaining and awards. Perhaps the change that will have the most practical impact is the introduction of the 10 National Employment Standards.
What are the new 10 National Employment Standards?
1 Maximum Weekly Hours of Work: all employees can only work 38 hours per week, which can be averaged over 26 weeks, however, an employer can request them to work “reasonable additional hours”.
2 Requests for flexible working arrangements: employees can apply for flexible working arrangements for example having hours reduced or changing start/finish times. There are rules that apply for an employee to be able to ask for these arrangements and for an employer to reject the request.
3 Parental leave and related entitlements: both parents can take up to 12 months unpaid leave following the birth or adoption of a child, although not at the same time.
4 Annual leave: full time employees are entitled to 4 weeks annual leave for every 12 month period. Shift workers receive an additional week.
5 Personal/carers & compassionate leave: employees are entitled to 10 days paid personal/carers leave and 2 days unpaid carers leave if required. Sick leave is a form of personal leave. Employees are also entitled to 2 days paid compassionate leave which is unpaid for casual employees.
6 Community service leave: this includes jury service and any ‘voluntary emergency management activity’. All community service leave is unpaid except for jury service which has an entitlement of 10 days paid leave excluding casual employees.
7 Long service leave: this is still being finalized by government, until then the state legislation still applies.
8 Public Holidays: Employees are entitled to payment for a public holiday if their normal working routine falls on a public holiday. There is also a list of recognized public holidays.
9 Notice of termination & redundancy pay: on the day of termination, employees must be given written notification. In terms of redundancy pay there is now a minimum amount of redundancy pay which must be paid which is on a sliding scale dependant on the amount of years an employee has worked for the employer.
10 Provision of a Fair Work information statement: all employers must provide new employees with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement. This statement gives each employee a summary of their entitlements under the new Act.
What Employers should know about their HR systems: Every employer and business owner needs to immediately review their current HR systems and processes to ensure they comply with the new Act.
What do employees/workers need to know? Employees need to review the current arrangements they have in place with their bosses to ensure they are getting all that they are entitled to.
Do you need more help? Our services include answering all your questions, reviewing current employment contracts/conditions to ensure that employees are well protected as well as provide a review process on any level for employers and business owners looking to ensure they meet all their obligations under the new Act.
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