New requirements for disclosure documents, introduced by the Fair Work Amendment (Corrupting Benefits) Regulations 2017 will commence on 29 January 2018.
Under the Fair Work Act 2009, bargaining representatives are required to disclose certain financial benefits they receive or expect to receive due to a term in a proposed enterprise agreement.
A disclosable benefit for an employer covered by the proposed agreement is:
- a financial benefit;
- received as a direct or indirect consequence of one or more terms of the agreement;
- received by the employer or an associated entity of the employer; but
- does not include a financial benefit that is received in the ordinary course of the employer’s business.
While previously, employers and registered organisations were not required to use a prescribed form when making a disclosure, disclosures must now be made using the prescribed form in Schedule 2.1A of the Fair Work Regulations 2009 (accessible here prior to incorporation into the Regulations on 29 January 2018).
The disclosure form must now also:
- state the name of the person who will, or can reasonably be expected to, provide the benefit (if known); and
- if it is not reasonably practical to describe the amount of benefit in the form, state the basis of which the amount is or will be determined.
An employer that is a bargaining representative must take all reasonable steps to ensure that each employee covered by the agreement is either given a copy of its disclosure document, or has access to a copy of the document no later than the end of the fourth day of the access period. The access period is the seven day period immediately before voting for the agreement commences.
Failure to comply with disclosure requirements may give rise to a fine of up to $12,600 for an individual and $63,000 for a body corporate.
If you have any queries in relation to disclosure requirements, or would like to discuss with AREEA any of your enterprise bargaining issues more generally, please contact your local AREEA office for advice.
