Article by Andrew Cunningham, Kristy Edser, Jim Fox, Gareth Jolly, Jennifer Patterson, Ruveni Kelleher, Gordon Williams
The Australian Government has released regulations providing how an employer may provide a copy of the Workplace Relations Fact Sheet to employees.
Regular readers of HR & IR Update will recall that all employers covered by the WorkChoices system are required to provide a copy to all employees (even the CEO):
- a copy must be provided to all existing employees on or before 20 October 2007; and
- a copy must be provided to all new employees within 7 days of their commencement of employment.
The new regulations state that the methods which can be used to provide the Fact Sheet to employees include:
- giving a copy of the Fact Sheet to the employee personally;
- posting a copy of the Fact Sheet to the employee’s residential address or a postal address nominated by the employee;
- emailing a copy of the Fact Sheet to the employee’s work email address or another email address nominated by the employee;
- emailing an internet link to the employee’s work email address (or another email address nominated by the employee) for the Fact Sheet. The current link is as follows: http://www.workplaceauthority.gov.au/docs/EMPLOYERS/FactSheet/FS-WR-020707.pdf
- placing a copy of the Fact Sheet on the employer’s intranet, and emailing a copy of the relevant intranet link to the employee’s work email address (or another email address nominated by the employee);
- sending a copy of the Fact Sheet by facsimile to the employee’s work facsimile number, the employee’s home facsimile number or another facsimile number nominated by the employee.
Implications For Employers
- Employers who require hardcopies of the Fact Sheet, for physical distribution to employees, can obtain additional copies by calling the Workplace Infoline on 1300 363 264.
- Although the regulations do not require it, it would be prudent for employers to keep a record of how, and when, copies of the Fact Sheet were provided to employees.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
