The workplace reforms keep coming! Parliament recently passed the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Bill 2023, which will result in changes to various worker entitlements including superannuation, unpaid parental leave and protections for migrant workers.
A new National Employment Standard
The Fair Work Act 2009 (“FW Act”) will include superannuation as a new National Employment Standard (“NES”). While this does not alter the amount of superannuation payable, or how it is paid, it does provide additional avenues for employees to pursue unpaid superannuation guarantee contributions. This is because by including superannuation as a right under the NES an employee will now be able to pursue unpaid superannuation directly under the FW Act. The Fair Work Ombudsman can also refer cases of superannuation non-compliance to the Australian Tax Office.
Superannuation as a NES will commence 1 January 2024.
Unpaid parental leave
The FW Act has been amended to provide employees with greater flexibility in how they use their entitlement to unpaid parental leave. Employees who take unpaid parental leave are entitled to now take up to 100 days (instead of the previous entitlement to 30 days) of their 12 months’ unpaid leave entitlement flexibly during the 24-month period after the birth or placement of their child. This flexible unpaid leave can be taken by pregnant employees up to six weeks before the expected date of birth of their child.
The changes have also removed the restrictions on employee couples taking concurrent unpaid parental leave.
These changes commenced on 1 July 2023.
Authorised employee deductions
Employees will be able to authorise their employer to make salary deductions that are recurring and for amounts which vary from time to time. Currently, if the amount of a deduction varied the employee would need to provide a new authorisation. This new approach simplifies the process for employers and employees.
An employee will be required to provide this authorisation in writing and can withdraw their authorisation at any time. This change comes into effect on 30 December 2023.
Employers can continue to make specified salary deductions based on a written agreement with an employee when it is principally for the employee’s benefit.
Migrant workers
The FW Act now clarifies that migrant workers have the same workplace rights and entitlements as other employees in Australia (regardless of their migrant status or whether they have breached their visa conditions). This change was introduced to further protect migrant workers who may be exploited by their employers, particularly in low paid industries.
These changes commenced on 1 July 2023.
Need to get across all the recent reforms quickly? Read our articles here and here.
