legalonline.com.au

The High Court today handed down its long awaited decision of the challenge to the constitutional validity of the Work Choice amendments.

The court by a 5 to 2 majority upheld its validity.

Link to the full transcript:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/2006/52.html

Australian Fair Pay Commission web site

Office of Employment Advocate web site

More online legal resources > www.onlinelegal.com.au

Here is a link to the consolidated Workplace Relations Act 1996 as published by AustLII.

The time for employers under WorkChoices to get their record keeping house in order has been extended today 22 September 2006 from 26 September 2006 to 26 March 2007.

Full details

We have set out below the records that employers must now keep.

Personal details

• Employee name
• Employer name
• Employee date of birth
• the name of each instrument under which the employee derives entitlements
• the classification of the employee under each such instrument
• whether the employment is full-time or part-time
• if the employee is full‑time or part‑time, a specification of the number of hours to be worked by the employee per week
• whether the employment is permanent, temporary or casual
• the date on which the employment began

Pay details

• the basis on which the rate of pay is determined
• the details of any incentive‑based payment, bonus, loading monetary allowance, penalty rate or other separately identifiable entitlement that the employee is entitled to gross rate of pay expressed as an hourly rate
• the period to which the payment relates
• the total remuneration received by the employee during that period, including the gross and net amounts
• the dates on which the employee was paid
• the deductions (if any) made from that remuneration and the name of the fund or account into which the deductions were paid

Annual Leave details

• the employee’s nominal hours worked
• the rate of the employee’s accrual of annual leave
• the date on which the employee was credited with annual leave
• the balance of the employee’s entitlement to that annual leave from time to time
• the amount of annual leave taken by the employee
• the amount paid to the employee while on annual leave
• If the employee has elected to forgo an entitlement to take an amount of annual leave, the following:

• copy of the employee’s written election to forgo an amount of annual leave
• record of the rate of payment for the amount of annual leave forgone and when the payment was made

Personal Leave details

• the employee’s nominal hours worked
• the rate of the employee’s accrual of personal leave
• the date on which the employee was credited with personal leave
• the balance of the employee’s entitlement to personal leave from time to time
• the amount and type of personal leave taken by the employee
• the amount paid to the employee while on personal leave

Other Leave details

• the amount and type of leave taken by the employee (including whether the leave is paid or unpaid)
  details of the accrual of that leave
• the date on which the employee was credited with that leave
• the balance of the employee’s entitlement to that leave from time to time
• the amount paid to the employee while on that leave

Shift workers

• the periods the employee was a shift worker
• the date on which the employee was credited with additional annual leave

Superannuation details

• the amount of the contributions made
• the period over which the contributions were made
• the dates on which the contributions were made
• the name of any fund to which the contributions were made
• the basis on which the employer became liable to make the contributions, including:

• the keeping of a record of any election made by the employee as to the fund to which contributions are to be made
• the date of any relevant election

Termination details

Whether the employment was terminated:
o by consent
o by notice
o summarily
o in some other manner, specifying the manner

Hours worked details

Where an employee has provision for overtime and has an annual salary of less than $55,000:

• Starting and finishing times, and
• Total hours worked
  

Where an employee has provision for overtime and has an annual salary of more than $55,000:

• Starting and finishing times
  

Where an employee has no provision for overtime and has an annual salary of more than $55,000:

• No additional record-keeping requirements
  

Salary is calculated as the base annual salary, excluding:
o incentive‑based payments or bonuses
o loadings
o monetary allowances
o penalty rates
o employer contributions for superannuation
o any other similar separately identifiable entitlement

For part-time employees, the salary will be the equivalent as if they were a full-time employee.

The main features of the new Federal WorkChoices System can be summarised as follows:

• A national industrial relations system which will cover 85% of Australian employees;
• The general application of five minimum employments standards to be known as the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard;
• The determination of wages (and casual loadings) by a new body, The Australian Fair Pay Commission – as indicated earlier, the commission was constituted from the date of royal assent;
• A simplified process of making workplace agreements (including collective agreements and Australian workplace agreements).  Workplace agreements will exclude the operation of awards and will no longer have to meet the “no disadvantage” test which applied under the old system;
• Decreasing relevance of the award system;
• Availability of different types of dispute resolution processes;
• Reduced eligibility for employees to make application for unfair dismissal;
• Increased options for employers in relation to dealing with industrial action;
• Significant changes to a union right of entry.  There is no right of entry for discussion purposes at all where employees are on AWA’s.