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ARTICLE · 20 DECEMBER 2012

Changes to the Fair Work Act: What does this mean for employers?

Holding Redlich
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The FW Amendment Act 2012 clarified that an employer can only make an enterprise agreement with two or more employees.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Charles Power
Charles Power
Ashleigh Mills
Ashleigh Mills
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When the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) was introduced into Federal Parliament in 2009 the Government committed to a full review of the FW Act within two years of its implementation. On 22 December 2011 an independent review was commissioned to fulfil this objective and its report – 'Towards more productive and equitable workplaces: An evaluation of the fair work legislation' was released in June 2012. While the terms of reference were wide-ranging, the report concluded that the FW Act was largely meeting its objectives and there was no requirement for wholesale change.

On Wednesday, 28 November 2012 the Fair Work Amendment Act 2012 (Cth) (Amending Act) was passed, implementing 17 of the 53 recommendations made by the Fair Work Australia Review Panel. Many of the changes introduced are technical and administrative in nature. A number of structural changes will be made to Fair Work Australia. For example, the name of the tribunal will change to the "Fair Work

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