The National Employment Standards Released

The Federal Government has as anticipated released the final version of the National Employment Standards (NES) as part of the award modernisation process. The NES will be a key reference for the priority industry awards to be modernised this year by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

The 10 minimum NES will be included in legislation to be introduced later this year. The new legislation will bring in a new system of workplace relations in Australia and replace the previous government's Work Choices laws.

It is expected that the NES will take effect on 1 January 2010, when the new workplace relations laws commence operation. At that time, the NES will apply to all employees in the federal system, regardless of industry, occupation or income.

Employers will need to have an understanding of the standards for maximum weekly hours and ability to require or request employees to work reasonable additional hours.

Other important changes include those to parental leave to extend the entitlement to same sex couples and extend it to up to 24 months, subject to conditions, for one employee.

These changes along with a likely increase in requests for flexible working arrangements may prove challenging for some employers.

Critical matters not discussed in the NES are how disputes will be resolved, the penalties, if any, that will be in place, and how the standards will be enforced. The substantive amendments later this year will address these issues and the interaction of the NES with agreements and their application to award-free employees.

Click on the PDF icon below to view a summary of the 10 NES.