Fair Work Act Reminder

In the October and November issues of Business Plus we commented on the important financial implications of the Fair Work Act. Major items covered were:

From 1st January, 2010 Modern Awards and National Employment Standards (NES) commence.
Financial Implications for SME operators from the Fair Work Act include:
12-month parental leave;
- cashing-out annual leave;
- paid carers leave;
- payment on dismissal;
- sham contracting outlawed;
- collective Bargaining in Good Faith; and
- transfer of Business Rules.
New Unfair Dismissal Laws - Employees must be advised of their dismissal in writing and provided with a minimum period of notice or payment in lieu of that notice. For details please see Business Plus+ October Issue 43.
A small business, which is defined as having less than 15 full-time equivalent employees, is exempt from the redundancy pay provision. If you employ fewer than 15 full-time equivalent employees we recommend that you keep accurate records to substantiate your business as a small business.
Modern Award - Modern Awards commences operation from 1st January, 2010. Most of these awards will be industry based and will reduce the overall number of awards from around 4,000 to just 130. Research undertaken by Workforce Guardian has indicated that many employers are unaware that their businesses will become bound by a Modern Award from 1st January, 2010, Modern Awards are not just concerned with basic pay rates, they also set out other employee entitlements i.e. casual and part-time loadings, penalty rates, shift allowances. All of these have the potential to seriously impact a business' bottom line.

If you would like a paper "Ten Most Important Financial Implications of the Fair Work Act", by Adrienne Unkovich of Workforce Guardian, please contact us. If you would like to view additional information on the operation of the Fair Work Act, we recommend that you contact Workforce Guardian Pty Ltd at www.workforceguardian.com.au

For more information contact us for a copy of the paper “10 Most Important Financial Implications of the Fair Work Act”.