If your business or organisation employs people, this date should be circled and highlighted on your calendar.
The next wave of changes to Australian employment legislation comes into effect NEXT MONDAY! And it's worth shouting about, because it's only 7 more sleeps!
The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No.2) Act 2024 (aka Closing the Loopholes 2) whose laws were announced a while back, are coming into effect and require employers and organisations to be ready for the changes they can expect to see happen in their workplaces.
If you hire casuals, gig workers, or independent contractors then it's time to get your house in order.
If you are gearing up for, or are in the middle of enterprise bargaining, pause for just a second, and make sure you are across the new rules before you keep going.
If you are enterprise bargaining for multi-enterprise agreements or for franchises, get some advice.
If you either need to contact employees outside of their hours of work or are in the habit of doing so, get up to speed with the right to disconnect laws that will be embedded within modern awards and implied in EAs from this date.
If your contractual agreements with independent contractors contain unfair terms and poorly defined dispute resolution processes, have your contracts reviewed and seek advice.
If your workplace has employees whose interests are often represented by unions, and you have employees who are union delegates, get across the new workplace delegates rights that are also coming into effect from this date.
What else is coming soon?
1 January 2025
If it’s been a while since you checked your award coverage, employee job classifications, and rates of pay and allowances, we strongly recommend you undertake a review before 1 January 2025.
As of today, that is 135 more sleeps; 19 weeks and 2 days; or 194,400 minutes left to get yourself sorted.
Why?
That is the date when intentional, systematic and/or ongoing underpayment of wages will become a criminal offence.
If you are certain that the wages you pay to your employees meets the minimum wages and conditions under your modern award, it might be good to just double check anyway.
But if you don’t tend to think much about it, or mistakenly believe that the wages you pay to your employees can be reduced by mutually agreed arrangement, we implore you to rethink your position and seek advice.
However, if your company or organisation has a spare $7.825 million to pay to the courts in maximum penalties, and, if you personally have a spare 10 years to spend in prison and $1.565 million to pay in personal penalties and fines, then please, continue. We need some interesting case law that sets the example of what not to do for others to follow.
Sounds scary, doesn’t it!
I get that the above sounds a little ‘strong’ and alarmist. The language I’ve chosen is supposed to provoke a reaction.
I would much rather see employers taken aback for a few seconds than to read about the outcomes they experience when allegations made against them are substantiated, and to then see their names ‘up in lights’ in the daily notifications we get about the FWC’s latest decisions and orders, forever to be whispered about in workplace hallways and by watercoolers.
If you're not certain you are across the changes that came into effect in late 2023 and earlier this year, you may need to get that checked too.
As you would expect, ignorance of the law is never an excuse. Seek out expert advice and make sure you achieve compliance at the earliest opportunity. If things go pear shape, you are going to need to rely on evidence to prove that you did something to educate yourself, and took action to fix things, before the tribunal with a much bigger stick comes calling.
If you need help, give us a call today!