The report by the panel charged with reviewing the operation of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) was released yesterday by the Federal Government. The review panel had been appointed to consider whether the Act had been operating in a manner consistent with its objects.
While the review panel considered that the Act had operated in a manner broadly consistent with the Act's objects, it did make 53 recommendations, the more notable of which include:
- expanding the ability of employees to request flexible working arrangements to a wider range of carer responsibility circumstances than currently available;
- explicitly providing that employees do not accrue annual leave while absent from work and in receipt of workers' compensation payments;
- having a common 21-day period after the termination of employment for a dismissed employee to make either an unfair dismissal claim (currently 14 days) or an adverse action claim (currently 60 days); and
- allowing the industrial tribunal, Fair Work Australia, to arbitrate to resolve disputes in negotiations over "greenfields" agreements.
The government will consult regarding the report and its recommendations before announcing its policy response later this year.
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