The Federal Government is moving to introduce legislation, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023, designed to close ‘loopholes’ which are allegedly being exploited by some employers. Of the proposed legislation, the most significant element is the wage theft laws.
Mental health has been a hot topic in our society generally over the past few years, especially after we started to emerge from the pandemic induced lockdowns. These trends in society have been mirrored recently by regulatory bodies across Australia creating various safety regulations, frameworks and codes of practice, meaning that employers now have much more responsibility surrounding mental health risk factors in their workplaces.
The Fair Work Ombudsmen has alleged a franchisor (Bakers Delight) has legal liability over its franchisee’s underpayments under the Franchisor liability provisions in the Fair Work Act. This is only the second time that this has occurred and is a significant case that all franchisors should be looking at carefully.
The phrase “shutdown” has typically been defined as a period when a business temporarily closes operations. Shutdowns typically occur over Christmas, or some other holiday period, in businesses that operate seasonally, or in the event the business needs to close for maintenance. Generally, employees are made to take either paid or unpaid leave and don’t have much flexibility or choice in this area.
The Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act has amended the Fair Work Act to strengthen the right to request flexible working arrangements, and provided an extension to unpaid parental leave. These changes come into force from 6 June 2023.
Child employment laws in Australia aim to protect the rights and well-being of young individuals in the workforce. These laws are different for each state and territory and aim to regulate working hours and ensure educational and developmental needs are met.
The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 put into force key amendments for the sunsetting of so-called ‘Zombie’ agreements.
The Albanese Government has introduced legislation that the Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has stated will help with “closing the loopholes that some businesses use to undercut workers’ pay, security and flexibility.”
A recent decision surrounding BHP’s in-house labour hire company confirms that employers must request for employees to work public holidays, instead of unilaterally deciding to roster them on a public holiday.
Changes to the current gender equality reporting under the Workplace Gender Equality Act (WGE Act) have passed Federal Parliament. The Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 now will require the WGE Agency (WGEA) to divulge the gender pay gaps of individual companies with 100-plus employees next year, drawing on data already provided by employers.
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