The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 was enacted
on 22 July 2015 and came into force on 1 August 2015.
The Act makes provision for three main areas, namely:
- it creates a new regime for registered employment agreements
("REAs");
- it makes provision for sectoral employment orders
("SEOs"); and
- it adjusts the Labour Court's jurisdiction, created by the
Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001, to make legally binding
determinations affecting employers who do not engage in collective
bargaining with trade unions.
1. REGISTERED EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
Why was it necessary to legislate for REAs?
The previous statutory regime governing REAs (Part III of the
Industrial Relations Act 1946) was declared to be unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court in 20131 and the 2015 Act
accordingly creates an entirely new regime for REAs.
