ARTICLE · 06 FEBRUARY 2013

Fair Work Amendment Act Brings Changes to Unfair Dismissal, General Protections and Enterprise Agreements

Brown Wright Stein Lawyers

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Many of these amendments, such as the expanded powers of the Fair Work Commission, should be welcomed by employers,

AustraliaEmployment and HR

By Chloe Charlton

The Fair Work Amendment Act 2012 received Royal Assent on 4 December 2012, with several of the changes coming into effect from 1 January 2013.

In addition to renaming Fair Work Australia the Fair Work Commission, other key changes include:

Changes to Unfair Dismissal

The time limit for lodging an unfair dismissal application has increased from 14 to 21 days (for employees dismissed after 1 January 2013).
The Fair Work Commission has the ability to dismiss an application based on unreasonable conduct of the applicant e.g. if the applicant fails to attend a conference or a hearing, fails to comply with a direction or order, or fails to discontinue the claim once the parties have concluded a settlement agreement.

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