Parliament passes second tranche of workplace reforms

The Australian Parliament passed a second tranche of workplace reforms that will provide employees additional and more flexible unpaid leave. Under the Protecting Worker Entitlements Bill, employees will be able to take up to 100 flexible unpaid parental leave (UPL), up from the previous 30. The reforms also allow them to:

• Commence UPL at any time in the 24 months following the birth or placement of their child
• Take UPL at the same time
• Allow pregnant employees to access flexible UPL in the six weeks prior to the expected birth of their child
• Request an extension to their period of UPL regardless of the amount of leave the other parent has taken

Other changes

Other changes in the bill include the addition of the right to Superannuation in the National Employment Standards in a bid to protect employees from superannuation theft.

The reforms clarify that the Fair Work Act protections also apply to temporary visa workers, as well as provide equitable long-service leave entitlements to casual employees in the black coal mining industry.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said the changes will give workers "security and flexibility where they need it most."

"Last year we passed the Secure Jobs, Better Pay legislation to lift wages, improve job security and close the gender pay gap," he said in a statement. "This year, it's about closing the loopholes that some businesses use to undercut those arrangements. This bill is the first step."

'Far from innocuous'

National employer association Ai Group, however, criticised several areas of the newly passed bill, including the ability to employees to take parental leave in an ad hoc way.

"Industry has been largely supportive of increased flexibilities that help parents stay in the workforce, including by giving employees better options for combining work and care where this can be accommodated," said Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox in a statement.

"It is nonetheless disappointing that the government didn't respond to this constructive approach by making requested modest and practical amendments to require employees to provide a reasonable period of advanced notice of the dates that they intend to take the new leave."

The Ai Group also criticised the changes that will allow unions to sidestep the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to pursue claims for unpaid entitlements.

"As a consequence, it means that businesses will be able to place far less reliance on guidance from the ATO on the application of our all too complex superannuation laws," Willox said.

The group added that the government should take a "more balanced approach" after accusing it of cherry picking a recommendation on the portable long service scheme leave without implementing "crucial changes that would address industry concerns" on the scheme.

"The legislation certainly introduces less controversial changes than the radical and economically reckless amendments that appear to be on the cards for later this year. Nonetheless the changes are far from innocuous and several certainly won't be welcomed by industry," Willox said.

Second of third workplace reforms

The Protecting Worker Entitlements Bill is the second batch of workplace reforms introduced by the Albanese government after it passed controversial reforms last year that introduced a multi-employer bargaining system aimed at lifting wages.

The third, "same job same pay" proposal, aims to close the labour hire "loophole" that undercuts what casual employees are getting compared to what has been set as the rate of pay for employees.

The government plans legislate it in the Spring 2023 sitting of Parliament, but the Ai Group is already warning the government that employers are still "playing catch-up" to the changes introduced last year.

"The government needs to be mindful of the very significant burden it is imposing on employers through waves of changes to employment laws," Willox said. "If it presses ahead with the kinds of further amendments it has foreshadowed later this year it needs to adopt a much more reasonable approach to affording employers time to implement the changes."