High Court hears Mondelez personal/carer’s leave appeal

Today (7 July) the High Court of Australia will commence hearing the appeal by Mondelez and the Minister for Industrial Relations of the Full Federal Court’s decision in Mondelez v AMWU.

In a 2-1 majority judgement, a Full Court of the Federal Court found the National Employment Standards require all employees to be provided with enough personal leave to allow them to take 10 working days of personal/carer’s leave per year, irrespective of how many hours they work each day.

AREEA’s view is the Federal Court’s interpretation in Mondelez is not only inconsistent with longstanding practice, it would expose all sectors of the Australian economy to significant cost impacts and create great inequities between different groups of employees.

AREEA will update members as more information about the appeal comes to light.

FWO gazettes update to FW Information Statement

On 29 June, the Fair Work Ombudsman gave notice in the Government Notices Gazette of the publication of the updated Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS).

The changes to the FWIS include the updated national minimum wage and an amendment to the disclaimer about the High Court appeal of the Full Federal Court decision in Mondelez v AMWU.

Employers are reminded to update their onboarding and recruitment documents to include the updated FWIS.

A copy of the updated FWIS can be found here.

FWC updates employer declaration Form F17

On 3 July, the President of the Fair Work Commission approved an update to the Form F17, which has been revised to “make it less complex and less time consuming to complete”.

The changes include simplifying explanatory material, reordering the questions and sections of the form, and reducing the overall number of questions.

A copy of the updated Form F17 can be found here.

Increases to unfair dismissal threshold and filing fees

From 1 July, the high income threshold for unfair dismissal claims increased to $153,600 (up from $148,700) and the compensation limit is $76,800 (up from $74,350).

Other changes which took effect from 1 July include the filing fee for unfair dismissal, unlawful termination, general protections and anti-bullying applications made under relevant sections of the Fair Work Act increasing to $74.50 (up from $73.20).

Employers are encouraged to review and update their systems and process, particularly those relevant to employees’ salaries and wages, to ensure these changes are implemented and avoid penalties.

Increases to Minimum and Modern Award wages

On 19 June the Fair Work Commission handed down its 2019-20 Annual Wage Review decision, increasing the national minimum wage and Modern Award wages by 1.75%.

Relevant to AREEA members, Modern Awards applying to the resources sector will have their rates of pay increased from the first full pay period after 1 November 2020.  This includes the Mining Industry Award 2020, Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award 2020 and Clerks Award 2020.

The increase to Modern Award rates of pay affects employees’ annualised salary calculations, particularly in relation to employees’ outer limits of work.

AREEA recommends that members review and update their annualised salary calculations to reflect Modern Award wage increases from the relevant operative date.  For most AREEA members this will require you to reissue letters to affected employees in November 2020, outlining new outer limit calculations for annualised salary arrangements.

For more information about employment policy matters contact [email protected]