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ARTICLE · 27 OCTOBER 2014

The Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014 – a snapshot

Cooper Grace Ward
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If passed, this will be the first significant amendments made by the Government since the election in September 2013.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Belinda Winter
Belinda Winter
Annie Smeaton
Annie Smeaton
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The Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014 (the Bill) is currently before the Senate. The Bill proposes a number of changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) and if passed, will represent the first significant amendments made by the Government since the election in September 2013.

We briefly discuss a few of these proposed changes.

Changes to the making of greenfields agreements

Good faith bargaining requirements under the FW Act do not currently apply to the making of a greenfields agreement. This has caused difficulty for employers in the past as unions often do not agree to reasonable terms.

The proposed changes will see good faith bargaining rules enacted to apply to the negotiation of greenfields agreements. The changes will also allow for a three month negotiation period between the employer and a union. If the employer and the union cannot reach an agreement in that time, the employer can apply to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for the agreement to be

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