Upcoming Award Changes - Manufacturing, Hospitality, General Retail, Education Services, Fire Fighting and Pastoral Awards to Change on 27 September 2021
Following on from the successful passing of the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Act 2021 (Cth), the Fair Work Commission (the Commission) has commenced reviewing and amending current modern awards to ensure they align with the new definition of casual employees and appropriately include mechanisms for casual conversion.
Starting with stage 1 awards, the Commission has confirmed that the following awards will be amended on 27 September 2021:
- General Retail Industry Award 2020
- Pastoral Award 2020, and
- Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2020
- Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020
- Fire Fighting Industry Award 2020
- Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020.
The Commission has highlighted the importance of ensuring existing awards are appropriately amended to remove outdated terms relating to causal employment as historical definitions including “engaged as a casual”, “paid by the hour” and “day to Day” could cause confusion and give rise to inconsistencies and uncertainty because they are inconsistent with the new definition of casual employee in s 15A of the FW Act.
This is only the beginning of the Commission’s review and there will no doubt be further amendments announced as the work progresses.
If you would like to know more about the changes to the modern awards, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) or the definition of a casual employee, reach out to our dedicated Workplace Relations team today: