26 September 2023

Comment invited on short-changing bosses

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The Attorney-General’s Department is collecting community comment on proposed new laws to deal with employers who under-pay their staff.

Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, Christian Porter said work on legislation was already under way but before a draft Bill could be finalized, community feedback was being sought.

“This will help inform the development of a new offence and penalty regime, which must include significant jail terms and fines for the most serious offences,” Mr Porter said.

“A strong deterrent is needed for the minority who deliberately exploit their staff.”

He said steps had already been to strengthen the civil penalties available under the Fair Work Act for under-payments by employers, but more needed to be done to target the most serious types of offending which were worthy of criminal sanctions.

“To help us deliver these important reforms, I have released a discussion paper that invites submissions on a range of issues, including the thresholds at which certain behaviour should be criminalised, the potential penalties and how the changes would apply to corporations,” Mr Porter said.

“We are taking this consultative approach because we recognise that the industrial relations system is complex and we need to ensure that any new penalty regime is fit for purpose and avoids any unintended consequences.”

He said that as an example he didn’t want employers who made genuine mistakes and moved swiftly to rectify them, to end up with a criminal record.

“As well as criminal sanctions, the discussion paper examines a range of issues associated with under-payments, including civil penalties, sham contracting and the question of liability for employers where entities in their supply network flout employment laws,” Mr Porter said.

“A separate discussion paper has been released, examining the issue of Project Life Greenfields Agreements. Under the Fair Work Act, enterprise agreements can only apply for a maximum of four years after approval.”

He said while the majority of new projects were finalised within that timeframe, larger projects could take longer and required cost certainty to enable them to be completed on time and on budget.

The 15-page discussion paper on strengthening penalties for non-compliance can be accessed at this PS News link with submission closing 25 October.

The 5-page paper on project lives for greenfields agreements can be accessed at this link with submissions closing on 1 November.

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