Browse through brief employment and labor law updates from around the globe. Contact a Littler attorney for more information or view our global locations.

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New Gender Equality Law in Victoria

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Naomi Seddon, Shareholder – Littler United States

The Victorian Government recently passed the Gender Equality Act 2020 (Vic), which will come into effect on March 31, 2021. Under the Act, “defined entities” (including Victorian public sector organizations with 50 employees or more) will be required to (1) undertake self-assessments and audits in relation to gender equality in the workplace; (2) prepare a “Gender Equality Action Plan” every four years, which must include data on gender equality and strategies for achieving workplace gender equality; (3) every two years, report progress of the Gender Equality Action Plan, based on gender equality targets and quotas per the regulations that will be published. The Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner will be empowered to independently monitor compliance and issue notices for enforcement. Covered organizations should review and develop relevant policies and practices to comply with requirements under the Act.

JobKeeper 2.0 and Temporary Workplace Flexibility Arrangements

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Naomi Seddon, Shareholder – Littler United States

The Australian Government has extended the JobKeeper Payment Scheme for an additional six months, until March 28, 2021, with some important changes. Under the JobKeeper 2.0, the fortnightly payment of $1500 per eligible employee will be replaced by a reduced, two-tiered payment system over Period 1 (September 28, 2020 to January 3, 2021) and Period 2 (January 4, 2021 to March 28, 2021). As of September 28, 2020, all employers will need to satisfy modified eligibility criteria and continue to meet their recordkeeping, reporting and minimum payment obligations. Among other eligibility criteria, entities will need to demonstrate a requisite decline in turnover over a specific period. The temporary workplace flexibility arrangements under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) have also been extended for the same period, although these have also been modified and now employers must meet new criteria.

Queensland Criminalizes Wage Theft

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Naomi Seddon, Shareholder – Littler United States

Queensland has become the third Australian state (after Victoria and the ACT) to criminalize wage theft with the enactment of the Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Wage Theft) Amendment Act 2020 (Wage Theft Act), which penalizes employers who intentionally steal from their employees by failing to pay the legally required entitlements. The Wage Theft Act amends the Criminal Code by adding the new section 391(6A) to enumerate a range of non-payments or underpayments that are covered under the law, including unpaid or underpayment of hours; unreasonable deductions; unpaid superannuation; withholding entitlements; underpayment through contractor misclassification; among others. The Queensland Police Service is empowered to investigate such claims.

The Wage Theft Act also amends the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) (IR Act), by introducing a process for fair work claims and wage recovery claims in the Industrial Magistrates Court up to $20,000, as well as a requirement for employers to share employee information to a registered employee organization with the employee’s consent. An employer will be liable for up to 27 penalty units for failing to provide the employee information. Employers should consistently audit their payroll practices and rectify any shortfalls, as well as review employment agreements, especially those paying all-inclusive salaries, to ensure compliance with any recent modern award changes.

NSW Seeks to Harmonize Modern Slavery Laws with Commonwealth Act

New Order or Decree

Author: Naomi Seddon, Shareholder – Littler United States

The New South Wales Government has announced its intention to align the NSW modern slavery legislation with the Commonwealth’s Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (Cth Act). Whilst the NSW Act was passed, it has not yet been proclaimed to come into effect as there remain details to work out given the areas of overlap between the NSW law and the Commonwealth law. The NSW Government intends to work with the Commonwealth Government to seek harmonization of the consolidated revenue threshold for modern slavery reporting, as well as an agreement from the Commonwealth to adopt “$50 million consolidated revenue” as a national standard (rather than the “$100 million in consolidated revenue” threshold under the Commonwealth Act). The NSW Government has also signaled that it intends to bring the NSW Act into effect on or before January 1, 2021, include a statutory review mechanism in the Act, replace ‘turnover’ terminology with “consolidated revenue” throughout the Act, and specify a prosecuting authority for breaches of the Act. We will provide updates as further information becomes available.

Draft Modern Award Schedule on Work from Home Arrangements

New Regulation or Official Guidance

Author: Naomi Seddon, Shareholder – Littler United States

On August 31, 2020, the Fair Work Commission released the Draft Award Flexibility Schedule to address work from home arrangements under modern awards and provide employees and employers with greater flexibility. The Draft Schedule is proposed to operate for an initial period of 12 months. However, before the Draft is incorporated into any modern awards, a consultation process will occur with industry groups and other relevant parties. The Draft Schedule includes the following main points:

• Employers and employees may reach an agreement on a working from home arrangement that balances the personal and work responsibilities of the employee with the business needs of the employer;
• Full-time and part-time employees may request a compressed work week, so that the hours are worked over a reduced number of days;
• An employer may change the span of hours in a workplace or section of a workplace with the agreement of 75% of its employees;
• An agreement may be reached to share a reduction in working hours in a workplace or section of a workplace with the agreement of 75% of employees, in circumstances where an employer cannot usefully employ all full time and part-time employees in a workplace or section of a workplace; and
• An employer may issue directions to perform all duties within an employee’s skill and competency, to stagger starting and finishing times or to direct an employee to work at an alternative workplace, which may include a direction to work from home.