According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the gender pay gap in Australia is 22.8%, with women on average earning $26,596 less than men. The Australian Government is seeking to address this issue and, as a result, has made some significant changes to Australia’s employment laws. The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay)(Cth) reform package (the “Amendment”) seeks to promote equality objectives for employees by banning Australian employers from creating policies or entering into employment contracts or agreements that mandate pay secrecy, among other directives.
Effective December 7, 2022, employees now have the right to elect whether to share information about their compensation or terms or conditions of employment that may be used to determine their compensation, such as hours of work. The Amendment imposes these rights not only during the employment relationship but also after the employment ends.
The ban on pay secrecy applies to employees who enter into new employment contracts after December 7, 2022, and to existing employment contracts where the contract does not specifically include pay secrecy terms. If an employee’s existing contract contains a pay secrecy clause, the clause will continue to operate until the contract is changed. Either way, employers cannot escape the effects of the changing law for long. Effective June 7, 2023, all pay...
The question of Rohingya refugees returned to public attention in Sri Lanka after a boat carrying more than 115 people reached the Mullaitivu coast in December 2024, and again when a Rohingya man l...