In this special bumper-edition of Employment Law for the Time Poor, join Professor Andrew Stewart, Consultant, and Emily Haar (Partner), as they discuss some of the key proposals arising from the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022, and how the changes, if passed, will impact organisations in every industry. The Bill proposes to significantly change how employers interact with their employees. Such changes are significant enough that organisations may need to reconsider their broader workforce strategy in the short to medium term.
Key proposals include:
- broadening the capacity for employees to request flexible working arrangements;
- making it harder to maintain secrecy about pay rates;
- restricting the use of fixed term contracts;
- addressing the lack of pay equity for female workers;
- adding a prohibition on work-related sexual harassment to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act);
- expanding the options for multi-employer bargaining;
- simplifying the processes for making and varying single-enterprise agreements;
- expanding access to protected industrial action and altering the process for taking it;
- making it easier for the Fair Work Commission to resolve "intractable" bargaining disputes;
- changing the rules for the termination and sunsetting of enterprise agreements ;
- expanding access to the small claims procedure for recovering underpayments;
- prohibiting the advertisement of pay rates that contravene the FW Act; and
- abolishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Registered Organisations Commission.
There are also many further changes still to come. Specific Insights concerning the various aspects of the Bill can be accessed at https://piperalderman.com.au/insight/
Piper Alderman will continue to monitor the Bill and its progress, and will be running a client webinar on 16 November 2022 to discuss the proposed changes and their possible impacts. Click here to register now.
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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.