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FWC reports continued performance improvements

The Fair Work Commission has today released its 2018-19 Annual Report to inform Parliament and the public about its performance and compliance with its obligations for the last financial year.

The Annual Report titled ‘Access to Justice’ highlights the Commission’s work in relation to its access to justice initiatives while focusing on continued improvements of its core business functions.

Some of the improvements reported include the significant reductions in enterprise agreement approval times. Data released by the Commission in August showed that enterprise agreement approval times had more than halved from 76 median days in 2017-18 to just 35 median days in the six months to August 2019.

In a well-publicised address to the Newcastle Industrial Relation Society, Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross defended the current approach to enterprise agreement approvals, signalling improvements in agreement approval times since the last reporting period.

The Commission reports that based on performance for agreements lodged and finalised in the last seven months to September 2019, compliant and complete applications are being approved within a median of 17 days from lodgement.  It also reports that all applications, both simple and complex, lodged and finalised in the same period have been approved in a median of 34 days from lodgement.

The report states the increase in agreement approvals follows the Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of 3 Yearly Reviews and Other Measures) Act 2018 providing the Commission powers to conclude that an enterprise agreement has been ‘genuinely agreed’ despite ‘minor procedural or technical errors’ which would otherwise have been rejected.

The Annual Report also promotes the achievements of the Commission’s national pro bono program (Workplace Advice Service), it’s plain language program to improve resources for participants, the modern award review process and the replacement of the industry panels with a regional allocation system.

An overview of the Commission’s performance in 2018-19 includes:

  • 5,370 enterprise agreement applications were finalised, of which 88 per cent (4,709) were approved, 2 per cent (85) were refused and 11 per cent (576) were withdrawn
  • 66 per cent (3,097) of enterprise agreement applications approved were approved with an undertaking up from 41 percent (2,008) in 2016-17
  • approval of single-enterprise agreements with undertakings took a median of 122 days up from a median of 48 days in 2016-17
  • 4,508 general protections applications involving dismissal were lodged, a 21 per cent increase from 3,729 applications in 2016-17
  • 140 unfair dismissal applications were resolved by a decision of a Member that the dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable
  • 207 unfair dismissal matters heard by the Commission had one or more objections raised by employers with 71 per cent of those matters (146) upheld in favour of the employer
  • 55 unfair dismissal matters conciliated resulted in the reinstatement of employees
  • 1,579 industrial dispute applications were made, including 35 applications about flexible work arrangements
  • 1,355 applications for right of entry permit were made, including 113 applications for work health and safety entry permits
  • 87 applications for permission to appeal were heard, with 64 per cent (56) being refused

FWC updates benchbooks

The Commission has published its updated version of the unfair dismissal benchbook yesterday.

The updated version of the Unfair dismissal benchbook reflects recent case law and rules changes, including information on amending applications, rescheduling or adjourning matters, bias, representation by lawyers and paid agents and orders the Commission can make.

This follows the recent updates to the Anti-bullying benchbook and Industrial action benchbook.

As part of its performance objective, the Commission is working to improve the resources it provides to users to enable them to help themselves. The Commission is undertaking a major review of all its correspondence, notices and guidance materials to ensure they are accessible, accurate and consistent.

Regulators report achieving significant recoveries for workers

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s 2018-19 Annual Report reveals a significant increase in recovered wages, record visits to its resources and firm enforcement of workplace laws.

Fair Work Inspectors recovered more than $40 million for 18,000 underpaid employees during the financial year – the highest total recoveries figure in the regulator’s history.

In 2018-19, the FWO resolved more than 29,000 workplace disputes between workers and businesses. There was a record 17.8 million visits to website to access information and the Fair Work Infoline answered 380,000 calls from workers and employers.

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said “the agency’s achievements show its commitment to promoting harmonious, productive, cooperative and compliant workplace relations”.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission’s 2018-19 Annual Report shows it is meeting its mandate as a full-service regulator with a breadth of work that covers wage recoveries for workers, security of payment for subcontractors and enforcing the rule of law on building sites.

During the reporting period the ABCC:

  • recovered $823,724 in wages and entitlements for 1,376 employees, bringing total recoveries to more than $1 million since the agency’s establishment on 2 December 2016
  • conducted 554 compliance activities comprising building code audits and inspections, and wages and entitlements audits
  • commenced 21 new court proceedings, with a 94% success for finalised proceedings
  • $4.25 million in penalties imposed by the courts in matters brought by the ABCC
  • reached a milestone of 5000 enterprise agreements assessed since the agency’s establishment, with time taken to assess agreements reduced to less than two weeks
  • launched the ABCC On Site App that delivers critical information about workplace rights and obligations where it is needed most
  • delivered 168 presentations to 4,618 people, including employees, employers and representatives of peak bodies.

The ABCC will focus its resources on changing behaviour in the building and construction industry for the better with it’s first priority being to uphold the law.

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