From today, Tuesday 6 June 2023, a number of changes to the functions of the Fair Work Commission come into operation.
These include changes to bargaining, enterprise agreements, and disputes about flexible work arrangements and extensions of unpaid parental leave.
These changes are a result of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022. Find out more about the Secure Jobs Better Pay Act – what’s changing including the President’s statements.
Bargaining changes
A number of changes to bargaining and industrial action commence today.
The bargaining changes relate to:
- Protected action ballot orders
- Multi-employer bargaining
- Intractable bargaining declarations and determinations
Find out more about the bargaining changes.
We have updated a number of our forms for making bargaining applications. Other bargaining forms will be updated in the coming days and will be added to our website progressively. Form F1 – Application (no specific form provided) is available if necessary.
Our new Bargaining Support team can be contacted at bargainingsupport@fwc.gov.au.
Enterprise agreement making changes
There are a number of changes to making enterprise agreements. These changes relate to:
- The genuine agreement requirements including the new Statement of Principles on Genuine Agreement
- The Better Off Overall Test (BOOT)
- Multi-enterprise agreements
Find out more about changes to making agreements.
We have published a new tool to help you determine which tests apply to agreement applications lodged with the Commission from 6 June 2023 and have updated our existing date calculator and other agreement tools to assist you to lodge agreement applications:
- New: Understand the tests that apply to agreements
- Updated: Date calculator for single enterprise agreements
- Updated: Create the Notice of Employee Representational Rights
We have also updated our forms for making applications for approval of enterprise agreements (other than greenfields agreements). Other forms will be updated in the coming days.
Our Agreements team can be contacted at member.assist@fwc.gov.au.
We thank the members of our Enterprise Agreement and Bargaining Advisory Group for their engagement so far and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with them over the coming months.
Flexible work and unpaid parental leave disputes
We can now deal with disputes about requests for flexible working arrangements and extensions of unpaid parental leave.
Two new forms are now available:
- A new Form F10B – Application to resolve a dispute about extension of a period of unpaid parental leave
- A new Form F10C – Application to resolve a dispute about flexible working arrangements
We welcome your feedback
We are committed to implementing these changes in an open and transparent way and with the needs of our users in mind. As part of this commitment, we will continue to review our processes over the coming months.
We welcome ongoing feedback in relation to materials and processes. Please send any feedback to consultation@fwc.gov.au.