Second wave of industrial relations reform tabled and a third wave on its way

The Albanese Government has set in motion more employment law changes, following 2022's Secure Jobs Better Pay Act and Respect at Work Act. On 29 March 2023, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke introduced into Parliament the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Bill 2023 (PWE Bill). The Bill proposes major changes to the Fair Work Act, including:

• clarifying that the Fair Work Act protections apply to all migrant workers
• increasing the flexible unpaid parental leave entitlement
• embedding superannuation contribution requirements within the National Employment Standards (NES)
• providing greater certainty as to the operation of workplace determinations, and
• streamlining the employee authorised deduction process.

In this article, we discuss the details of these changes and their anticipated impact on employers.

Increased protection for migrant workers

The PWE Bill proposes a new section in the Fair Work Act to disregard the effect that the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (Migration Act) has on the validity of an employment agreement or contract for services. This provision will cover employees and independent contractors.

A Migrant Taskforce in 2019 found that there was uncertainty about whether migrant workers could enforce workers' rights under the Fair Work Act, in particular if the worker had breached their visa conditions. The new section gives clarity that a breach of...

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