In comments to the National Press Club on 31 August 2023, Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke said that the Closing Loopholes Bill will address four key “pillars”: wage theft, casual conversion, labour hire, and “employee-like workers”, and that the Bill would not “reach into every workplace”.  While the Bill certainly deals with those four matters, there is so much more to unpack. 

In this special long-form episode of Employment Law for the Time Poor, join Professor Andrew Stewart and Emily Haar as they discuss the considerable proposed reforms presented by this Bill.  If you think your organisation will not be directly impacted, think again. 

The Bill includes quite complex reforms to the definition of employment, creates new jurisdictions for the Fair Work Commission to deal with non-employee disputes, creates new rights for workplace delegates, and significantly increases the civil penalties for underpayments (while also creating a criminal offence of “wage theft”).  

For additional detail on the Bill, view our Insight here: https://piperalderman.com.au/insight/the-closing-loopholes-bill-brings-more-challenges-for-employers/