Fair Work Bill

The Federal government's Fair Work Bill will bring about significant changes to the workplace relations environment as from 1 July 2009 and also from 1 January 2010. On 1 July 2009, the new unfair dismissal regime will apply, new enterprise bargaining provisions will apply giving unions a stronger bargaining position and new transfer of business rules will apply so that it will be more likely that industrial agreements will "follow" workers no matter for whom they work. From 1 January 2010, the National Employment Standards and Modern Awards will apply and various government agencies will be swallowed into "Fair Work Australia", a one-stop shop for employment matters. Businesses that employ staff will need to be aware of the changes so they are not caught out. The Workplace Ombudsman is quite active in prosecuting claims and seeking fines against Employers for breaches of the law.