Australian Workplace Updates – July/Aug 2023

The Fair Work Commission has announced that from 1 July, the minimum wage is increasing. The National Minimum Wage will be increased to $882.80 per week or $23.23 per hour. For employees who are covered by an Award, minimum Award wages will increase by 5.75%.

All the Awards will increase from the first full pay period from 1 July 2023, including but not limited to:

• The Restaurant Industry Award 2020

• The General Retail Industry Award 2020

• The Food, Beverage and Tobacco Manufacturing Award 2020

• The Textile, Clothing, Footwear and Associated Industries Award 2020

• The Clerks and private sector Award

SUPERANNUATION

Changes to the minimum superannuation contribution will also take effect from 1 July, increasing from 10.5% to 11%.

PAID PARENTAL LEAVE

From 1 July 2023, the paid parental leave scheme will be changing.

The current 2 weeks’ Dad and Partner Pay will be combined with the current entitlement to 18 weeks’

paid parental leave. This means partnered couples will be entitled to share a combined 20 weeks of paid parental leave between them. The maximum one parent can use is 18 weeks, ensuring any one partner receives a minimum of 2 weeks. Parents who are single at the time of their claim can access the full

20 weeks.

There will also be changes to the income test used to determine eligibility. Currently, income is assessed on an individual basis. This will change from 1 July to become a family income limit of $350,000.

To be eligible for Paid Parental Leave, there is no longer a requirement to return to work.

Unpaid Parental Leave

As of 6 June 2023, there are new requirements which apply to how employers respond to requests for an extension of unpaid parental leave. Where an employee makes an extension request, the employer must respond in 21 days. Requests can only be refused if the employer has discussed and genuinely (but unsuccessfully) tried to reach an agreement with the employee, or if the refusal is on reasonable business grounds. These amendments will also provide employees with greater access to dispute resolution methods through the Fair Work Commission.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

As you know, from March 2023, employees are now allowed to bring forward a claim of sexual harassment towards their employers, work colleagues, clients or members of the public as long as there is some connection of the conduct occurring during the time the employee was performing work.

What can employers do to protect your employees from workplace sexual harassment?

As an employer, you can take the following steps to protect your employees from workplace sexual harassment:

• Implement a detailed sexual harassment policy that defines sexual harassment, specifies what conduct is prohibited and outlines the complaint process

• Provide your employees with education about sexual harassment, the company’s policies and procedures, and what employees can do if they experience or witness sexual harassment

• Encourage open communication and create an environment where employees feel comfortable reporting incidents of sexual harassment and ensure that any complaints are taken seriously and handled promptly and confidentiality.

• Respond promptly and effectively to complaints by taking immediate action by investigating any complaints of sexual harassment and taking appropriate steps to address and prevent further incidents.

TEMPORARY WORKPLACE SHUTDOWNS

Many modern awards presently contain provisions that allow employers to direct employees to take leave without pay or leave in advance if they do not have sufficient annual leave available to cover a shutdown period (such as over the Christmas and New Year period).

From 1 May:

• Employers must give affected employees 28 days’ written notice of any temporary shutdown period, or any shorter period as agreed between the parties.

• Employers may direct employees in writing to take a period of paid annual leave if the employee has an accrued annual leave entitlement, providing the direction is reasonable.

• Should an employee not have sufficient annual leave to cover the whole shutdown period, by written agreement the employee may take leave without pay or annual leave in advance during the temporary shutdown.

• Employees can no longer be required to take leave without pay if they do not have sufficient annual leave or leave in advance to cover the whole period of the shutdown.

• The implication of this decision is that employees who do not have sufficient accrued annual leave to cover the shutdown period may in some circumstances be entitled to wages during the shutdown period if they do not agree to take pay without leave or leave in advance.

WORKING HOLIDAY VISA HOLDERS

Under condition 8547 related to the 6-month work limitation restriction linked to working holiday visa holders, these employees were previously restricted to only work 6 months for one employer. This condition has been relaxed since 31 December 2022 till 30 June 2023 allowing employees to work no more than 6 months for the same employer. This limitation has now been reinforced as of 1 July 2023 restricting employees with a working holiday visa to only work for one employer for 6-months. However, any work done for the same employer prior to 1 July 2023 will not count towards the 6-month limitation after 1 July 2023.

Our HR team is ready and equipped with all the required resources as mentioned above, so go on and contact us today to ensure your company is ready and compliant for 2023!

Halkin HR team: hrsupoprt@halkinbp.com.au