The Australian Government has introduced the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014 into Parliament.
The Bill proposes a raft of changes to the Fair Work Act 2009, including implementing more workable arrangements for greenfield agreements on new projects to “redress the excessive power which unions have to hold up projects until all their demands are met”.
The Bill also seeks to tighten union entry rights, including overturning the former Labor Government's changes which gave union officials an absolute right to hold their meetings in lunchrooms, regardless of whether or not any union members are employed in the business.
Further amendments include several recommendations made by the Fair Work Act Review Panel in 2012, including amendments to make Individual Flexibility Agreements (IFAs) more workable and fairer for individual employees and their employers and to clarify leave accruals during periods of workers' compensation.
The Bill also seeks to amend the transfer of business laws to enable employees to transfer voluntarily to a related company of their employer without the industrial arrangements of each employer being disturbed.
