FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES PAID FAMILY & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEAVE BILL
The Federal Government on 28th July 2022 introduced the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family & Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022 (the Bill).
The Bill proposes to amend the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act), by inserting a non-accumulating Entitlement of 10 Days’ Paid Family & Domestic Violence Leave each year, into the National Employment Standards (NES), for all Employees (including Casual and Part-Time Employees).
Currently under the NES, Employees are entitled to take 5 days’ Unpaid Family & Domestic Violence Leave each year.
To provide time for Payroll and other necessary adjustments, the new Paid Entitlement is proposed to take effect from 1st February 2023 for all Non-Small Business Employers (Employers with 15 or more Employees).
Small Business Employers (Employers with fewer than 15 Employees) will have until 1st August 2023 to comply with providing the amended NES Leave Entitlement to their Employees.
It is expected that this Bill will be passed through both the Senate and the House of Representatives and become an Act of Parliament later this year.
We will keep you updated.
CPI ACCELERATES BEYOND 6% A YEAR
Consumer Price Inflation has surged again, rising to 6.1% annually in the June quarter, well ahead of private sector wage growth of 2.4% a year, which remains near historic lows.
Annual inflation increased from 5.1% in the March quarter to 6.1% in June.
ABS said that the annual CPI rise is the largest since the introduction of the GST in 2000.
RBA Governor Philip Lowe said last month that he expects the CPI to reach 7% by the end of the year.
Refer to the following link for further information, Consumer Price Index, Australia, June 2022.
Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) recovers half a billion dollars in wages
The FWO has announced that a record $532 million in Unpaid Wages and Entitlements was recovered for more than 384,000 Workers in 2021-22. The recoveries sum was more than 3x that of last year’s record.
The Deputy FWO said that “The Fair Work Ombudsman’s strengthened compliance and enforcement approach has seen another record amount of Back Paid Wages for Australian Workers in the last financial year”.
The Fair Work Ombudsman currently has about 50 investigations underway into large corporates that have self-reported Underpayments, including some of Australia’s largest companies.
Please contact us if you have any enquiries, it’s important that your business is compliant with current Australian Employment Laws.
KEEP UP TO DATE WITH CHANGES TO AWARDS
The Fast Food Industry Award has been extensively varied and is now the 2020 version. The varied Award has been issued and started operating on 28th July 2022. The Fast Food Industry Award has been reviewed and rewritten using plain language principles, to make it easier to understand and use.
The Hair and Beauty Industry Award plain language redrafting process has been finalised. The operative date for the variation determined will be 9th August 2022.
Existing Awards are being changed extensively, as a result of the 4 Yearly Review of Modern Awards.
Ensure to check you are using the latest version of Awards.
Are your employees required to wear a uniform or special clothing?
We recommend you check the rules under the relevant Award in relation to provision of Uniforms/Special Clothing & Laundry Allowances. For example, under the General Retail Industry a laundry allowance of $6.25 per week is payable for Full Time Employees, and $1.25 per shift for Part Time and Casual Employees.
Juniors working in Hospitality
A reminder that under the Restaurant Industry and Hospitality Industry Awards, Junior Employees working as Liquor Service Employees must be paid as an Adult for the work being performed.
IF YOU NEED ANY ADVICE REGARDING THE CONTENTS OF THIS NEWSLETTER OR ANY OTHER WORKPLACE RELATIONS MATTER, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US.