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New Sex Discrimination and Respect at Work Legislative Changes
Provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) and the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) were amended on 11 September 2021 with the passing of the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Act 2021 (Cth). Some of the key amendments are: Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) Compassionate Leave The amendments provide another ground of entitlement for two days of compassionate leave where the employee, or the employee’s spouse or de facto partner, has a miscarriage. The legislation already provides compassionate leave to an employee in circumstances of a stillborn child in the employee’s immediate family or employee’s household. Compassionate leave is paid leave for employees except for casuals where the leave is unpaid. Unfair dismissal A new note has been inserted into the unfair dismissal provisions t...
4 October 2021Changes to the unfair dismissal remuneration cap, national minimum wage, minimum award rates and filing fees
Introduction New award rates, unfair dismissal thresholds and other changes in the employment arena have been announced, some of which commence from 1 July 2021. These are some of the main changes. Unfair dismissal threshold (high income threshold) and maximum compensation cap The high income threshold will increase from the previous $153,600 to $158,500 from 1 July 2021. This means employees whose annual rate of earnings is $158,500 (which excludes statutory superannuation) or more, and who are not covered by an award or enterprise agreement, are unable to pursue an unfair dismissal application. The change also means that the maximum compensation that can be awarded for an unfair dismissal claim will increase from $76,800 to $79,250. National minimum wage The national minimum wage will increase to $772.60 per week or to $20.33 per hour (calculated on the basis of a 38-hour wee...
29 June 2021New legislative requirement for employers to give casual employees casual employment information statement
As part of the recent amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act), there is a requirement for employers to provide every casual employee with the Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS). The CEIS contains information on how a casual employee is defined; casual conversion; and the Fair Work Commission’s role in resolving disputes regarding casual conversion. The CEIS is different to the Fair Work Information Statement. For new casual employees, that is casuals who were employed on or after 27 March 2021, the CEIS must be provided to the employee before, or as soon as practicable after, the employee starts employment. For existing casual employees, that is casuals who were employed before 27 March 2021: small business employers (being those with less than 15 employees) are required to provide the CEIS to their existing casual e...
31 May 2021