The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations announced amendments to the Fair Work Act through four media releases on 11,12,13 and 14 February 2013. The proposed changes are intended to help families to balance work and family life and help employees to address workplace bullying. The measures will have the effect of:
- expanding the scope of who can request flexible working arrangements to include all parents of school aged children, carers, workers with disability, mature age workers and those experiencing family violence and workers providing personal care, support and assistance to a member of their immediate family or member of their household because they are experiencing family violence;
- amending the consultation terms in modern awards and enterprise agreements to require employers to consult on roster changes and consider the impacts on families;
- ensuring that when an employee takes unpaid special maternity leave that it does not reduce the employee's entitlement to 12 months unpaid parental leave;
- extending the right to transfer to a safe job where that role does not present a risk of illness or hazards arising from the pregnancy to employees with less than 12 months service;
- increasing the maximum period of concurrent unpaid parental leave from three to eight weeks, which has the effect of extending the time that parents can take unpaid parental leave at the same time and allowing greater flexibility around when the concurrent leave can be taken; and
- adopting a definition of workplace bullying, being: ‘bullying, harassment or victimisation means repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety' and allowing an employee who has suffered bullying at work the right to seek an order from the Fair Work Commission to address the matter.
A Regulation Impact Statement was required for these amendments to the Fair Work Act, but the Prime Minister granted an exemption on the basis of exceptional circumstances. A post-implementation review will be required within 1 to 2 years of its implementation.