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Further to Kate Ashcroft and Christie McGregor’s article on what workplace updates to expect in 2025 in this month’s edition of Bay Business News, the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety has announced three more proposed changes to the Employment Relations Act 2000.

Employment Relations (Pay Deductions for Partial Strikes) Amendment Bill

 The Employment Relations (Pay Deductions for Partial Strikes) Amendment Bill passed its first reading on 11 December 2024.

Currently if an employee is engaged in a partial strike, their employer cannot deduct their pay unless they suspend the employee or issue a lockout notice.

The proposed partial strike changes mean employers could either:

• Reduce an employee’s pay by a proportionate amount, calculated in accordance with a specified method that is based on identifying the work that the employee will not be performing due to the strike, or
• Deduct 10 percent of their wages.

Employers would have to provide written notification to employees before the deduction is made (the amount of deduction would not berequired in the notice).

If a union disagreed with the employer’s calculation, the union would need to advise the employer that they disagree as soon as practicable after receiving the employer’s information on how they calculated the specified pay deduction. The union could apply to the Employment Relations Authority, to determine whether the employer had calculated the correct deduction.

The Education and Workforce Committee will report back on the Bill by 22 April 2025. The Minister has indicated that this bill is being introduced as a large proportion of public sector collective agreements are expiring in the first half of 2025.

 Removing the ability for employees who make $180,000 and over to raise a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal.

 This amendment would deliver on the ACT-National coalition to set an income threshold above which personal grievances cannot be pursued.

Cabinet has agreed to introduce an income threshold of $180,000 per annum for unjustified dismissal personal grievances, meaning employees earning above that would be unable to raise an unjustified dismissal claim and we expect this to be progressed through the Employment Relations Amendment Bill in 2025.

At present, commentary on the income threshold of $180,000 per annum refers to a regular base salary and excludes other income such as incentive payments and benefits like vehicle use. It is not proposed to be adjusted for part-time employment.

Employees earning over $180,000 per annum would still be able to raise other types of personal grievances and we expect would have other avenues for claim.

Removing rewards for poor employee behaviour

This proposed amendment would deliver on the ACT-National coalition to remove the eligibility for remedies if the employee is “at fault” and we expect to be introduced to potentially amend the Employment Relations Act 2000 to:

• Remove all remedies for employees whose behaviour amounts to serious misconduct;
• Remove eligibility for reinstatement in a role and compensation for hurt and humiliation when the employee’s behaviour has contributed to the issue, for example repeated instances of poor performance.

Other, more technical changes that would have an impact on personal grievance outcomes include:

• Allowing remedy reductions of up to 100 percent where an employee has contributed to the situation which gave rise to the personal grievance.
• Requiring the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court to consider if the employee’s behaviour obstructed the employer’s ability to meet their fair and reasonable obligations.
• Increasing the threshold for procedural error in cases where the employer’s actions against the employee are considered fair.

Examples of behaviour amounting to ‘serious misconduct’ includes:

• Violent behaviour
• Bullying
• Sexual, racial or other harassment
• Theft or fraud
• Behaviour that endangers the health and safety
• Using illegal drugs at work
• Dishonesty

Contributory behaviour is defined asranging from minor behaviours such as unproductive behaviour, repeated instances of lateness, misuse of company resources or under-performance, to more serious behaviours such as violence, theft, or fraud.

While it is unclear at this stage how this amendment will functionally differ from the contribution provision currently set out in the Employment Relations Act 2000, this will be progressed through the Employment Relations Amendment Bill which the Minister aims to introduce in 2025.

Message for Employers

If you would like advice on how this could impact your business or more information regarding the above, please contact our team.

Disclaimer: We remind you that while this article provides commentary on employment law, health and safety and immigration topics, it should not be used as a substitute for legal or professional advice for specific situations. Please seek legal advice from your lawyer for any questions specific to your workplace.