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Change is the only constant in the industrial relations landscape in Australia at the moment and this is likely to continue in the run up to the federal election. The government’s most recent change to the WorkChoices legislation has been to re-introduce a fairness test for the approval of AWAs (where the employee earns less than $75000 pa) and all collective agreements lodged on or after 7 May 2007 where an award would otherwise apply. Employees must receive “fair compensation” in exchange for the removal of “protected” award conditions that can currently be removed by AWAs or collective agreements without explicit compensation, eg penalty rates, shift and overtime loadings, monetary allowances, annual leave loadings, pay for public holidays and rest breaks.
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