The World According to Cachia

On the 20th March 2009, the Federal Governments Fair Work Bill passed through the Senate, and with this, the wheels were set in motion for its implementation, which occurs on the 1st July 2009. When reading commentary on this legislation we are told that the introduction of the Act has practical implications for businesses across Australia, as ‘Forward with Fairness’ aims to strike a balance between fairness and flexibility at work!

This Bill continues with the plan to have a ‘National Industrial System’ which was a big part of the ‘WorkChoices’ philosophy. The idea of removing complexity from the Industrial system (with regards to competing federal and state legislation) was an element that was favoured by employers and employees alike.

Bear in mind though, that before the Fair Work Bill takes effect, the Government wants to introduce two more pieces of legislation. The first is the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009, which was tabled on the 19th March 2009. This refers to the transition from the current system to the new. The second, due for introduction in May 2009, deals with the consequential amendments to other federal laws and/or referrals of power by the States. It is the Governments intention to have both these pieces of legislation passed by mid June at the latest.

With all the publicity surrounding the introduction of the Fair Work Bill, there of course has been much discussion in and out of the workplace. Whilst the level of discussion varies, one aspect seems to remain, and that is, what impact will these changes have on me and/or my business?

For some this appears to be a very real problem… a recent survey conducted on small to medium enterprises (SME’s) identified that;-

• 80% of these companies are not ready for the introduction of the new workplace laws,
• some 45% of SME’s were unprepared or uncertain about how the changes would affect their businesses,
• 30% had a little or no understanding of their obligations under the legislation,
• 50% were rather concerned, or at least somewhat concerned about the changes.

Considering the above, it’s obvious that we still have some way to go to prepare for the implementation of the Fair Work Bill. However, it is of paramount importance for the effective running of HR practices in any business, that its managers understand and properly implement this type of legislation.

Organisations and their managers cannot ignore this legislation and therefore must familiarise themselves with the facts, in addition to juggling a number of other business decisions (especially those brought about by the impacts of the current economic climate)!