What Information do your Employees need to have access to?
The Fair Work Act 2009 requires that employers provide their employees with certain documents (or give their employees access to such documents), and these are summarised below:
Fair Work Information Statement
The 'Fair Work Information Statement' must be given to every new employee as soon as practicable after that employee starts their employment with you.
National Employment Standards (NES)
The National Employment Standards (NES) set out the basic minimum employment conditions that apply to all Australian employers and employees covered under the Fair Work Act 2009, regardless of whether an employee is employed under a Modern Award, enterprise agreement, or any other arrangement.
The NES is made up of ten (10) standards which are:
1. Maximum weekly hours of work
2. Requests for flexible working arrangements
3. Parental leave
4. Annual leave
5. Personal / carer's leave and compassionate leave
6. Community service leave
7. Long service leave
8. Public holidays
9. Notice of termination and redundancy pay
10. Fair Work Information Statement
The employment conditions of all employees covered under the Fair Work Act 2009 must be at least equivalent to the NES at all times, and the application of the NES (or any part of it) cannot be changed or excluded in a written employment agreement, even if the employees agrees to sign such an agreement.
Modern Awards
A Modern Award is a document that establishes the minimum wages and working conditions for employees in a particular industry. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, there is generally a separate Modern Award for each industry across Australia.
Each Modern Award operates in conjunction with the National Employment Standards, and both of these documents establish the total minimum wages and working conditions for employees in Australia.
Access to Information
As an employer, you must ensure that all of your employees have access to both of the following, either in hardcopy or electronically (whichever is more accessible):
- the National Employment Standards (sections 59-131 of the Fair Work Act 2009); and
- the relevant Modern Award that applies to them.
FWO Members can instantly access the above documents on their Online Member Account as follows:
Fair Work Information Statement – a PDF of this statemet is available in the bottom left-hand corner of your Online Member Account
National Employment Standards (NES) - a PDF of the NES is available in the bottom left-hand corner of your Online Member Account
Modern Award – once you have selected the Modern Award(s) that is applicable to your business (from your Member Account Home Page), a PDF copy of the most current version of that Award(s) will immediately become available in the bottom left-hand corner of your Online Member Account.
Where changes are made by the Ombudsman / Government to any of the above documents, FWO immediately uploads the new version document onto every Member Account, and notifies all members by email that a revised version is available.
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