Government announces WorkChoices safety net

The Prime Minister has announced that from 7 May 2007 all Australian Workplace Agreements lodged with the Office of the Employment Advocate (which will be renamed the Workplace Authority) will be subject to a fairness test in order to guarantee that entitlements such as penalty rates and public holiday pay are not traded off without adequate compensation.

The test will protect workers who would otherwise have been entitled to award conditions and are paid less than $75,000 a year.

If an agreement removes or modifies those award conditions, then the employee will be required to receive fair compensation. These protected award conditions are:

• penalty rates, including for working on public holidays and weekends;
• shift and overtime loadings;
• monetary allowances;
• annual leave loadings;
• public holidays;
• rest breaks; and
• incentive-based payments and bonuses.

If an agreement does not pass the fairness test, the relevant industrial instrument will apply until an agreement is formed that passes the test. The Workplace Authority will not be able to arbitrate an agreement.

A new Workplace Ombudsman will have power to investigate employers who fail to meet their obligations under the workplace laws.

The Ombudsman will replace the Office of Workplace Services.

More details (pdf)