The Federal Government recently released the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2013 (Bill), which includes further proposed changes to the Fair Work legislation. The reforms are a mixture of changes arising out of the Fair Work Act Review Panel’s Report released on 15 June 2012, and other substantive changes arising from the government’s recent policy announcements which focus primarily on ‘family friendly’ workplace arrangements.
Employers can reasonably expect to be confronted with a further tranche of reforms during the ‘winter sitting’ of Federal Parliament. These follow the government’s decision not to include announced changes allowing parties access to arbitration in the Fair Work Commission in circumstances of stalled negotiations for greenfields agreements, or intractable disputes, in the second tranche of reforms contained in the Bill.
A summary of the key changes can be found here.
This article was written by Paul Burns, Partner, Rohan Doyle, Senior Associate, and Gabrielle Hayward, Solicitor, Melbourne.
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