Are you aware of changes to the Fair Work Act from 1 January 2013?
Effective 1 January 2013, a number of amendments were made to the Fair Work Act which are mainly technical in nature.
- Fair Work Australia (FWA) will now be known as the Fair Work Commission. (FWC)
- New time limits for dismissal claims. The time for lodging an unfair dismissal or a general protections claim is now 21 days.
- Power to dismiss unfair dismissal claims and award costs. The new provisions allow the FWC to dismiss an unfair dismissal claim on certain grounds eg failing to attend a hearing or failure to comply with FWC order.
- Costs can now also be awarded where one party has caused the other to unreasonably incur costs.Industrial action provisions have been amended to clarify protected action provisions of ballots.
It is the second phase of recommendations which will have a more significant impact on business operations and are proposed to start 1 July 2013, though no draft legislation is yet available. These include:
- Legislated flexible working arrangements for a much broader group of employees to include the following categories: carers, workers with disabilities, mature aged workers and workers who are suffering from domestic violence.
- Allowing employees to have recourse on bullying complaints through the Fair Work Commission.
- Amending the model consultation clauses for awards and agreements to require employers who make changes to rosters or working hours to "genuinely consult" with the affected employees about how the changes would affect their personal lives.
- Changes to parental leave.
- Employees (mums and dads) returning to work from parental leave to be able to request returning to work on a part-time basis.
- Flexibility for parents taking unpaid parental partner leave by extending leave from three weeks to eight weeks, and allowing them to choose when they want that leave.
- New entitlements for pregnant workers, such as special maternity leave rules and the right to transfer to a safe job.
We will keep you up-to-date with the progress of these recommendations and please contact us should you require any further explanation of the impact of these.