Update
Beyond COVID-19: Employment and labor
Employers have obligations for the health and safety of their employees and to protect their personal data.
Australia | Publication | March 2020
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has acted on applications made by employer associations and unions by varying a number of awards to introduce temporary flexibility provisions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated public health orders. These important measures aim to provide employers with the flexibility to resource their businesses appropriately in the current climate whilst maintaining compliance with the applicable modern award, allowing them to continue active operations and retain employees.
The modern awards which have been temporarily varied to date are the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010 (Hospitality Award)1 and Clerks — Private Sector Award 2010 (Clerks Award).2
The variations take effect by way of a temporary schedule and address issues such as annual leave (including directions to take it and the way in which it can be taken); hours of work (including reduction in hours and expanding the spread of hours) and work across classifications. An overview of the changes is set out below:
Hospitality award | Clerks award |
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The COVID-19 situation in Australia is continuously evolving. This update is correct as at 30 March 2020, but there may be further variations to other modern awards in the coming days and weeks. At the time of writing, we are aware that a similar application has been made in respect of the Restaurant Industry Award 2010. We encourage you to contact us or visit the Fair Work Commission website to keep up to speed with the latest developments.
David Cross, Norton Rose Fulbright Employment and Labour Partner, will be presenting a webinar on the varied award clauses on Thursday 2 April 2020 at 2.30pm AEDT. Please register to tune in and join David for this discussion here.
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