The Industrial Relations Act of 1996

The Industrial Relations Act 1996 is legislation enacted by the Australian state of New South Wales. The act addresses issues of employer and employee workplace relations such as those dealing with parental leave following birth or adoption, maximum weekly hours of employment, unfair contracts and dispute resolution. Disputes may be resolved by orders made by the Industrial Relations Commission if a dispute is sent to the Commission for arbitration.

Hours Of Employment

In order to ensure that employers are not able to enforce unreasonable working hours as part of their terms and conditions of employment, section 22 of the act sets the maximum number of hours per week at 40, when these hours are set by the Industrial Relations Commission. The Commission can set an award stating terms and conditions of employment during disputes between employees and employers that are referred to arbitration by the Commission for resolution. However, this number can be the average of all the hours worked over a 12-week period, to allow flexibility in dealing with peaks and troughs of demand for an employee's services.

Parental Leave

An employee is entitled to 52 weeks unpaid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child. Both parents are entitled to this unpaid leave, but the period when parents can take this leave must not go beyond one year following the birth or adoption of the child. Full-time and part-time employees can take advantage of this parental leave allowance, but casual or seasonal employees, not employed on a regular basis are not eligible for unpaid parental leave. According to section 55 of the act, parental leave includes maternity leave, taken in connection with the pregnancy or birth of a child, paternity leave, also known as partner leave, taken by an employee who's spouse has a baby, and adoption leave, taken by a male or female employee following the adoption of a child.

Unfair Contracts

The Industrial Relations Commission has the power to declare an employment contract wholly or partly void, if it believes that the contract is an unfair contract. The Commission can declare a contract void if the contract was unfair at the time that it was signed by both parties to the contract, or if a contract was fair when it was signed but the Commission feels that it has subsequently become unfair. For example, a contract that was fair when it was signed may be declared unfair if subsequent contracts with different employees, working for the same employer, contained conditions that were more favorable to the new employees than the terms binding employees to the previous contract.

Notification Of Industrial Disputes

When a dispute arises between employees and employers, the dispute may be referred to the Commission for resolution. Section 130 of the act states that an industrial organization of employees may notify the Commission of the dispute, and so may an organization representing employers. Employee organizations are typically trade unions. Employers may have organizations representing an entire industry, which negotiates on behalf of all employers in that industry when the outcome of a particular dispute may affect all employers in that industry. Single employers may also notify the Commission of a dispute, and so may anyone who may be adversely affected by a secondary boycott as a result of the dispute.

References

• New South Wales Consolidated Acts: Industrial Relations Act 1996
• Industrial Relations Act 1996: Section 3 Objects
• Industrial Relations Act 1996: Section 22 Maximum Hours Of Employment
• Industrial Relations Act 1996: Section 55 What Is Parental Leave?
• Industrial Relations Act 1996: Section 106 Power To Declare Contracts Void
• Industrial Relations Act 1996: SEction 130 Notification Of Industrial Disputes

Resources

• New South Wales Government: Industrial Relations