Proposed Bills recently introduced to Parliament of relevance for Employers:
Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill
Introduced on 20 March 2024 by Labour MP Camilla Belich. This Bill aims to promote pay transparency and fairness by prohibiting employers from subjecting employees to confidentiality obligations in terms of their employment agreements and their ability to discuss their remuneration with their coworkers.
Repeal of Good Friday and Easter Sunday as Restricted Trading Days (Shop Trading and Sale of Alcohol) Amendment Bill
The 3½ days where shops are not allowed to open may be numbered with this Bill, which was introduced on 11 April 2024. The current restricted shop trading hours has been a thing since 1990 and although Councils have the power to overrule with local bylaws - this has not seen widespread adoption and now simply seems not fit for purpose due to the confusion it creates. For more info on this
please see our previous article here.
Crimes (Corporate Homicide) Amendment Bill
This Bill from Labour’s Workplace Relations and Safety Spokesperson looks to make those responsible for recklessly causing death or serious injury to someone they knowingly have a duty of care for criminally liable.
Security of Workers’ Wages Amendment Bill
Seeking to amend the Companies Act 1993 and the Insolvency Act 2006 to ensure that in circumstances where a business liquidates worker's wages and monies owed to them come far higher up the list than they do currently.
Employment Relations (Removing Automatic Deduction of Union Fees) Amendment Bill
An ACT Members Bill wishes to repeal sections 55 and 65A of the Employment Relations Act 2000, requiring Employers to deduct union fees from a worker' salary or wages.
Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill
ACT MP Laura Trask wishes to introduce Employer initiated "protected negotiations" to occur between an employer and an employee to bring an end to the employment relationship if desired. Much in the way of the current more challenging "without prejudice" discussions which can be derailed relatively easily this Bill would make it the Employer's right to have such a conversation if they chose.