{"id":2102,"date":"2013-01-15T14:55:36","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T03:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.wpengine.com\/?p=2102"},"modified":"2016-03-16T15:57:40","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T22:57:40","slug":"australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s Fair Work Laws: What We Know Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fair
\nEditors Note: This is a guest post written by David Bates, Managing Director of Workforce Guardian. His opinions are his own.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Commonwealth Government\u2019s Fair Work system has been with us now for over three and a half years and clear trends are beginning to emerge.\u00a0This was brought home to me last year as I \u00a0travelled regularly\u00a0around the country speaking with business owners and heard first-hand the same stories from wary – and weary – employers.<\/p>\n

As we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, it\u2019s worth reflecting on what we know now about Australia\u2019s increasingly complicated employment laws.<\/p>\n

Unfair Dismissals<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The number of unfair dismissal cases continues to increase year-on-year, primarily as a result of the removal of the automatic exemption for \u2018small businesses\u2019 from these laws. There are now a staggering 14,000 unfair dismissal cases lodged against employers every year.<\/p>\n

Most employers settle the claim at the early \u2018conciliation\u2019 stage by offering to pay \u2018go-away\u2019 money to the ex-employee. We now know this is fraught with danger and should only occur when it\u2019s really in the best interests of the employer.<\/p>\n

Modern Award Coverage<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We know now that it is absolutely essential that employers obtain written advice confirming which Modern Award (if any) applies to their employees. While advice from the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) is not legally-binding, anecdotal evidence confirms that you are far less likely to be penalised if you have followed the FWO\u2019s written advice in good-faith.<\/p>\n

We also know that there are a number of confusing discrepancies between Modern Awards and the Fair Work Act 2009<\/em> itself. For example, some Modern Awards make it quite clear that leave loading should not be added to unused annual leave paid out to departing employees. However, the FWO has indicated that these Awards are inconsistent with the Fair Work Act 2009<\/em> and employers must always pay out leave loading regardless.<\/p>\n

National Employment Standards (NES)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When it comes to the ten mandatory NES, we now know that many \u2013 if not most \u2013 employers are still trying to come to terms with the practical implementation of these legal obligations.<\/p>\n

For example, many employers still aren\u2019t giving out copies of the Fair Work Information Statement to new employees or properly handling parental leave and flexible working requests despite the fact that each breach of the NES can carry a penalty of up to $33,000.<\/p>\n

These are just some of the trends now emerging as time goes on.<\/p>\n

At best, employers remain confused and, at worst, they are entirely unaware of the risks of continued non-compliance with Australia\u2019s re-regulated labour market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, it\u2019s worth reflecting on what we know now about Australia\u2019s increasingly complicated employment laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":280,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,30],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia's Fair Work Laws: What We Know Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, it\u2019s worth reflecting on what we know now about Australia\u2019s increasingly complicated employment laws.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia's Fair Work Laws: What We Know Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, it\u2019s worth reflecting on what we know now about Australia\u2019s increasingly complicated employment laws.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zippia For Employers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zippia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-15T03:55:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-16T22:57:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/recruitloop.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/onboarding-new-employee-300x209.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Conner Martin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ZippiaInc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ZippiaInc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Conner Martin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now\/\",\"name\":\"Australia's Fair Work Laws: What We Know Now\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-15T03:55:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-16T22:57:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/a72cec630630e694f5d527346149c113\"},\"description\":\"As we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, it\u2019s worth reflecting on what we know now about Australia\u2019s increasingly complicated employment laws.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/australias-fair-work-laws-what-we-know-now\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Australia’s Fair Work Laws: What We Know Now\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/\",\"name\":\"Zippia For Employers\",\"description\":\"How to find the best employees.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/a72cec630630e694f5d527346149c113\",\"name\":\"Conner Martin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fce56296d43a7d14fe8e88fc898899e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fce56296d43a7d14fe8e88fc898899e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Conner Martin\"},\"description\":\"Conner is a professional writer and editor who has worked in a variety of different industries and media. 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