People Dynamics Newsletter - People Matters
Issue 53, July 2009 | Back to Newsletters Index
This issue is dedicated to the new employment law changes with the introduction the Fair Work Australia Act. They come into effect as you are reading this article (apply from July 1, 2009). The following highlights some of the key areas that will be addressed in the new financial year.
If you have any queries or if you wish to find out if your business is compliant with the new laws, please do not hesitate to contact our team.
Key Issues in the Fair Work Act
Further changes will be coming into effect from January 1, 2010. These changes relate to the new National Employment Standards and will affect entitlements, such as parental leave and the right to request flexible working arrangements, among other things. We will give more detail about this closer to the time. The new laws that come into affect from today include:
Unfair Dismissal is back!
Any employee in Australia who earn less than the salary cap (currently set at $106,400 p/a) can now claim unfair dismissal for “harsh unjust or unreasonable” termination, whether they work for a large organisation or a small business. For small businesses, employees will only be able to claim for unfair dismissal after they have been employed for at least 12 months (6 months for larger businesses). To dismiss someone fairly after this period the employer will need to comply with a simple Fair Dismissal Code. Contact us if you would like a copy of this code.
How do you know if you are a “small business”? For now, a “small business” is one that employees less than 15 full time equivalent employees. To calculate FTE numbers, add up the number of ordinary weekly hours worked in the business (averaged over the four weeks preceding the dismissal), then divide that total by 38. After 1 January 2011, a small business will be defined as one that employs less than 15 employees by total head count. A larger organisation (qualifying period of 6 months instead of 12) is one that employs greater than 15 staff by these counting methods.
Employees will also only have 14 days from the date of termination to bring an unfair dismissal claim, instead of the current 21 days.
Small business employers, as measured by 15 total headcount, continue
be exempt from redundancy pay obligations.
Fair Work Australia
A new body has been set up called Fair Work Australia (FWA), which will be replacing the bodies that used to administer the Workplace Relations Act, including: the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, the Workplace Authority, the Workplace Ombudsman and the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Unions and Right of Entry
The Act allows a slightly broader right for unions to enter workplaces. The FWA will also have greater powers in relation to the bargaining process between employees, their unions and employers.