Employer Bulletin | 10 June

The Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden says this Government will improve the Holidays Act 2003 [the Act] with the help of businesses and workers who will be affected by changes to the Act.

“Change has been a long time coming, and I know there are many who are frustrated with the Holidays Act. We need an Act that businesses can implement, and that makes it easy for workers to understand their entitlements. We need to do this once and do it right.

“I have heard from a number of businesses who are struggling to adjust to the previous Government’s decision to double sick leave entitlements for all eligible workers.

“Workplaces that rely on part-time workers are particularly vulnerable to unexpected staffing shortages. To explore this issue further, the exposure draft set for consultation will include a proposed approach to pro-rating sick leave, to better reflect how much an employee works,” says Ms van Velden.

“Although the previous Government spent many years working on a solution, the advice I have received from officials has led me to the conclusion that there are further opportunities to improve the simplicity and workability of the legislation. In some areas the previous Government’s decisions would end up increasing complexity and compliance costs.

For example, the exposure draft will now include a change in how annual leave is provided, moving from an entitlement system to an accrual system.

“Shifting to an accrual system for annual leave entitlements is just common sense. While workers might not notice any change in their entitlements, from a payroll perspective this should make a huge difference. An accrual system should help avoid the complex calculations that regularly stump payroll software and should therefore reduce compliance costs for employers.”

In today’s Bulletin

• Union breaches duty it owed to a member 
• Employer blackmails employee causing unjustified constructive dismissal
• Recovering training costs from employee that resigned
• Restructuring process found not to be genuine
• Employee secretly monitored found to be unjustifiably disadvantaged
• Eight news updates of interest for employers including: Progress for fixing the Holidays Act 2003, PM congratulates King’s Birthday Honours recipients, Government commences Firearms Registry review, Government to sign groundbreaking Indo-Pacific agreements, International visitor spend on the rise, International trade: March 2024 quarter, Six unlawful migrants located by compliance officers, and $36 million commitment for local catchment groups.
• Nine Bills open for submission