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Government Releases Proposed Laws and Plan for National Employment Standards

Written by: Meredith Dorham

Article Overview: This week (11 February 2008) the government released the Bill containing its proposed amendments to the Workplace Relations Act. If the Bill passes into law it will usher in the transition to a new system of industrial relations and workplace law. The Bill contains matters that had been foreshadowed in pre-election statements and announcements by the new government since it came to power last year.

Government Releases Proposed Laws and Plan for National Employment Standards

At present the passage of the Bill has been delayed by the Senate (controlled by the coalition until 1 July 2008) sending it to a committee for review. Therefore, no changes to the workplace laws are yet in place.

The Bill reflects the government’s intention to discontinue laws which allow for AWAs. However, for the time being AWAs may still be made! The ability to make AWAs will not cease until the Bill becomes law. The ability to lodge AWAs that have been signed on or before the Bill becomes law, will cease 14 days after the Bill becomes law.

Once the making of new AWAs is outlawed, the Bill provides a mechanism under which AWAs will be phased out altogether. For a limited time, interim AWAs (known as “Interim Transitional Employment Agreements”) will be available only to those employers who, at 1 December 2007, employed at least one worker on an AWA. This limited opportunity will cease altogether after 31 December 2009.

The Bill also contains details about the system of modernised awards envisaged by the new government. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission will have the power to make modern new awards to set a fair minimum safety net for employees. The government’s intention is that awards will be made in conjunction with proposed National Employment Standards. This will allow the Commission to build upon the Standards to create an appropriate safety net for people covered by its awards.

These proposed National Employment Standards were not released at the time that the Bill was introduced to Parliament. However, an exposure draft has since been released and the government has invited comment. The government’s aim is to bring the National Employment Standards into operation on 1 January 2010. The Standards will apply to all employees. We will provide further updates about the proposed National Employment Standards and the passage of the Bill.

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Article Tags: aim, australian industrial relations, australian industrial relations commission, awa, awas, bill becomes law, conjunction, employment agreements, employment standards, exposure draft, industrial relations commission, intention, limited time, minimum safety, national employment, parliament, safety net, senate, transitional employment, workplace laws



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