Recent developments in Australia
Local and international employment law is always changing. Thankfully, we keep a close eye on the latest developments, so you don’t have to. Read on to find out what’s been happening in Australia.
Paid family and domestic violence leave (2022)
The Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2022 (Cth) received Royal Assent on 9th November 2022. This Bill amends the existing entitlement to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave (FDV leave), replacing it with 10 days of paid leave. The Bill also extends the entitlement to casual workers, and expands the scope to include violence from former intimate partners and non-related household members. Under this Bill, employees are entitled to paid FDV leave at their full rate of pay (not their base rate of pay).
More protections against wage theft (2020)
In recent years, two state legislatures have passed laws to criminalise wage theft in Australia. In June 2020, the Victorian Government passed the Wage Theft Act 2020 (Vic), which establishes three new criminal offences to tackle wage theft. In September 2020, the Queensland Legislative Assembly passed the Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Wage Theft) Amendment Act 2020 (Qld). The Act amends the definition of stealing under the Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld) to explicitly include failures to pay an employee for work they have performed.
Modern slavery risk reporting (2019)
In November 2018, the Australian government passed the Modern Slavery Act (Cth), which came into effect on 1st January 2019. This Act requires businesses and other organisations over a certain size to report annually on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chain. The reporting requirements apply to companies with a consolidated revenue of A$100 million, amounting to over 3,000 Australian businesses.
More protections for vulnerable workers (2017)
Following a series of high-profile underpayment cases involving immigrant employees, Parliament passed the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 on 5th September 2017. The amends the Fair Work Act 2009, and introduces several new protections for workers and penalties for non-compliant employers. For example, courts are now able to impose a higher financial penalty for ‘serious contraventions,’ amounting to ten times the previous limit. The Bill also doubled the maximum penalty for record-keeping and payslip breaches and made franchisors and holding companies responsible for underpayments by their franchisees or subsidiaries in certain circumstances.
