Albanese Government Secures Senate Support for IR Bill
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke announced on Sunday 27 November that the government had secured the support of Greens senators and independent ACT senator David Pocock to pass its IR bill before the end of the year.
The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 includes changes which:
- Abolish the Registered Organisations Commission and the Australian Building and Construction Commission
- Amend the objects of the Fair Work Act 2009 to include the promotion of job security and gender equity
- Guide the Fair Work Commission in consideration of equal remuneration and work value cases
- Prohibit pay secrecy
- Prohibit sexual harassment in connection with work
- Expand anti-discrimination protections
- Limit the use of fixed term contracts
- Expand the scope for employees to request flexible work arrangements
- Amend small claims procedures to enable unpaid entitlement recovery
- Prohibit employers from advertising employment at a rate less than that required by the Fair Work Act 2009
- Provide for the sunsetting of old enterprise agreements
Of course, the aspect of the bill which has received the most media coverage relates to multi-employer bargaining. Changes negotiated with the senate crossbench will mean that small employers with less than 20 employees will be exempted from multi-employer bargaining. Employers employing between 20-49 employees will be able to exit multi-employer bargaining unless the Fair Work Commission can be convinced to include them. How multi-employer bargaining plays out in the workplace remains to be seen.
ES Subscribers will receive a more detailed explanation of the impact of the major elements of the bill in our upcoming newsletter.
