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1 May 2023
By Ben Duggan and Nicholas De Pasquale
Employment Law
Countdown to the End of Zombie Agreements: Is Your Business Compliant?
Late last year, the Albanese Labor Government secured the passage of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay reforms to the Fair Work laws.
An aspect of the reforms is a sunset date of 7 December 2023 for industrial instruments approved prior to the commencement of the Fair Work laws, at which time these old instruments will terminate.
The union movement has long campaigned for a sunset date for these industrial instruments, many of which were made during the Work Choices era, that are now all older than a decade.
Earlier, the union movement was disappointed that the Labor Government under Prime Minister Rudd did not include a sunset date for these industrial instruments when they enacted the Fair Work laws.
The Labor Government’s introduction of a sunset date for these industrial instruments, referred to as ‘zombie agreements’, shall remove one of the last vestiges of Work Choices.
An ability has been provided under the reforms for the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to extend the operation of a zombie agreement beyond the sunset date in certain limited circumstances.
Employers are also required to provide their employees covered by a zombie agreement with information about the agreement, including its sunset date, by no later than 6 June 2023.
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