On 10 December 2007 the Workplace Authority released its latest statistics on the Fairness Test. The statistics show that of 222,276 workplace agreements lodged for Fairness Test assessment, 72,859 had been processed at 30 November 2007.
Of those workplace agreements which had been processed, 6,693 had been deemed to cease operating, highlighting the importance of ensuring that workplace agreements which exclude or modify protected award conditions provide fair compensation for that modification or exclusion.
As discussed earlier ("Transition bill amending WorkChoices to be introduced to Parliament") the Government has proposed to remove the Fairness Test and replace it with a new no-disadvantage test. Until that time the Fairness Test will continue to apply to all new workplace agreements and to any workplace agreement which is transmitted with an employee upon a transmission of business.
Members who are uncertain about how the Fairness Test operates or whether it applies to their workplace agreements are referred to Employee Relations National Circulars ER07/09 and ER07/10, available at www.ara.com.au , for further information.
