Various changes introduced by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (Cth) have commenced operation, however a number of other changes are still to come into effect. This report provides an outline of those commencement dates.

On 29 March 2023, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Bill 2023 (Cth) was introduced into Parliament. The Bill proposes changes relating to temporary migrant workers, unpaid parental leave, a right to superannuation within the National Employment Standards, workplace determinations, payroll deductions, long service leave for casual employees in the black coal mining industry and various other changes.

Ai Group is currently involved in consultations with DEWR in relation to the third tranche of legislative amendments that will likely be introduced into Parliament in the second half of this year. As compared to the proposed changes in the Protecting Worker Entitlements Bill, the third tranche contains more contentious legislative changes.

In Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation v Hitachi Construction Machinery (Australia) Pty Ltd [2023] FCA 68, Raper J decided that four employees of Hitachi who maintained Hitachi equipment on one or more coal mine sites were ‘eligible employees’ for the purposes of the Coal Mining Industry Long Service Leave Scheme. The Australian Government has responded to consultation over the implementation of a ‘Levy Waiver/Premium Arrangement’ that will provide some assistance to employers that may be potentially exposed to retrospective liability for payment of the levy in connection with the scheme.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) is conducting proceedings regarding the development of a ‘Statement of Principles on Genuine Agreement’ that will be relevant to enterprise agreement approvals after 6 June 2023.

On 6 March 2023, the new sexual harassment provisions in the FW Act commenced operation. These provisions introduce a new prohibition against sexual harassment and expand the FWC’s sexual harassment dispute jurisdiction.

On 26 March 2023, the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Improvement for Families and Gender Equality) Act 2023 (Cth) commenced operation. This represents the first stage of changes to be made to the Government’s paid parental leave scheme. This amendment will extend parental leave pay from 18 weeks to 26 weeks by 1 July 2026, and enable parental leave pay to be accessed flexibly across households.

The Annual Wage Review 2022 – 23 is underway before the FWC.

Read all this and more in our latest report on significant workplace relations issues.