The Federal Government has introduced the Fair Entitlements
Guarantee Bill 2012 (the Bill) to replace the existing
administrative General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme
(GEERS) applying to employees of businesses that fail to pay
redundancy entitlements.
During the 2010 election campaign, Labor promised to remove the
existing 16-week cap on protected redundancy payments imposed under
GEERS and replace it with an uncapped scheme. The Bill will now
provide for up to four weeks of redundancy pay per year of
service.
The Explanatory Memoranda to the Bill states that the primary
objective of the Bill is to provide financial assistance (an
'advance') to former employees where the end of their
employment is linked to the insolvency or bankruptcy of their
employer. After making an advance, the Commonwealth assumes the
individual's right to recover the amount that was advanced
through the winding up or bankruptcy process of their employer.
