In an unprecedented move, employer groups and unions have come together to push through urgent changes to the Clerks - Private Sector Award 2010.
Clerks Award
With the support of unions, employer groups have asked the Fair Work Commission to amend the Clerks Award, the most common modern award with widespread application to nearly all office admin staff. Key features of the proposed changes include:
- Facilitating working from home arrangements, including by allowing hours of work to be varied without leading to additional cost associated with overtime and penalty rates;
- Giving employers the right to direct employees to take annual leave on a week's notice;
- Providing greater flexibility in relation to employees taking annual leave, for example, permitting twice as much leave but at half-pay; and
- Increasing the scope for employers to reduce hours of work through broad agreements with 75% of affected staff.
The amendments, which will likely be approved by the Fair Work Commission, possibly as early as today, will operate until 30 June 2020, unless extended.
Long service leave
Separately, temporary changes to long service leave have been made in NSW also with the aim of giving greater flexibility to cope with the crisis. The changes include:
- waiving the one-month notice period for taking leave; and
- allowing employees to take shorter blocks of leave (rather than monthly blocks).
As the COVID-19 crisis and its economic impact continue to grow, these amendments are just the start of what will likely be a long line of changes to laws that give employers and employees better tools to get through difficult times.
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