5 December, 2022

How to prepare for the imminent employment law changes

Blog | Industry News

Parliament’s Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 has passed both houses after some amendments in the Senate, which will amend the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“Fair Work Act”) upon royal assent. Many of amendments in the Bill significantly change various elements of Australia’s industrial relations system.

This EMA Note provides a brief overview of some of the changes made by the Bill which we consider are likely to be of greater relevance or require more significant (or immediate) actions by employers.

Summary of Key Changes

• Employees will be entitled to discuss their remuneration (and related employment conditions) with each other, and trying to add ‘pay secrecy’ clauses to new employment contracts will be a civil offence. The Commission will also have greater powers in relation to dealing with workplace sexual harassment. See more detail of how these changes affect you and what you can do to get prepared for them here.
• Considerable limitations will be put on the use of fixed-term contracts, with a broad restriction (with some exclusions) on using one or more fixed-term contract for the same type of work for more than two years. See more detail of how these changes affect you and what you can do to get prepared for them here.
• Employer obligations around flexible work arrangements will be more reflective of the additional obligations added to awards at the end of 2018, requiring genuine attempts to meet the employee’s needs and giving the employee considerably more written information if rejecting a request. See more detail of how these changes affect you and what you can do to get prepared for them here.
• ‘Zombie Agreements’ will automatically terminate one year after commencement of the legislation unless the Fair Work Commission grants an extended grace period for their continued operation. Employers will also separately have additional hurdles when applying for the Fair Work Commission to terminate an enterprise agreement which has passed its nominal expiry date. See more detail of how these changes affect you and what you can do to get prepared for them here.
• Considerable changes have been made to the bargaining system, including requiring union agreement before putting an enterprise agreement to a vote, employee bargaining representatives being able to initiate enterprise agreement negotiations by writing to employers, changes to the better off overall test, and an ability for the Commission to order parties to attend conciliation or mediation on making a protected action ballot order. See more detail of how these changes affect you and what you can do to get prepared for them here.

Other Amendments

This summary and the linked detailed EMA Notes do not address all of the legislative changes, only those we consider most likely to be of immediate relevance and interest to businesses. A more comprehensive bullet-point list of the proposed amendments was included in our earlier EMA Note, though this was drafted on the first iteration of the Bill so does not include any of the subsequent amendments that were made.

If you would like any information on any aspect of the Bill, including those not detailed in our EMA Notes, please contact us and we would be glad to assist.

Require further information/assistance?

This EMA Note is not comprehensive advice about your situation and does not cover all your obligations. If you require further information or advice, please contact your Consultant.

EMA Consulting is not a law firm and therefore does not provide legal advice or services. The information contained within this document and associated material is general in nature and should not be relied upon. If you require specific advice on a particular matter, we recommend that you contact EMA Consulting on 08 8203 1700. Subject to the matter at hand, your EMAC Consultant may recommend that you obtain formal legal advice. If formal legal advice is required, upon your written instruction EMAC will brief your matter to a legal practitioner for this purpose. The contents of this document and associated materials do not represent legal advice.