Fair Work Bill: Summary Continued - Page 3

The process for creation of modern Awards is a ‘staged’ one with a fairly tight deadline for priority industries, however the Awards will not commence until 1 January 2010. Allowable Award matters have been reduced to ten, and will include ‘model flexibility clauses’ intended to meet the individual needs of employers and employees. The AIRC is essentially conducting the process by way of industries that have been grouped according to priority, with four groups of industries in that process.

A considerable degree of consultation with industry and employee groups is in place as part of the process and exposure drafts of awards for various industries have been released.

National Employment Standards

The second pillar of the safety net is a set of 10 National Employment Standards (‘NES’). The concept, it can be argued, is based upon the current Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard. However the coverage of the NES is broader and more comprehensive.

The NES cover a range of issues including maximum weekly hours, requests for flexible working arrangements, parental, annual and personal (including compassionate) leave, community service leave, long service leave, public holidays, notice of termination and redundancy entitlements and finally a Fair Work Information Statement.

The NES will apply to all employees falling within the federal jurisdiction and is intended to commence from 1 January 2010. It should be noted that wages do not form part of the NES. Wages will be dealt with by the Modern Award process.

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