The Federal Government has announced it will begin consultation on changes to the methods for calculation of redundancy pay entitlements under the National Employment Standards.
While there is no specific detail provided on what these changes will be, the Federal Government has indicated its aim is to “ensure that redundancy payments more fairly reflect average working hours of the course of a person’s employment” and has heralded that these changes will ensure fairness and equity in redundancy payments for women.
We will keep you updated as more details become available.
The Federal Government has also announced changes to the Paid Parental Leave Scheme – the Scheme will now provide eligible persons with access to 20 total weeks of paid parental leave, regardless of gender, with couples given the power to determine how the paid parental leave will be shared between the two members of the couple.
The changes are designed to remove disincentives for fathers to take up parental leave by enabling them to take paid parental leave in conjunction with any employer-funded leave, in the same manner available to women, and will likely see an increase in male employees taking on periods of parental leave.
The rate of payment under the Paid Parental Leave Scheme will remain the same.
Finally, the Budget includes provision for tax changes applicable to employee share schemes and the removal of regulation. The changes will mainly benefit unlisted companies as participants in employee share schemes can now invest up to:
- $30,000 per participant per year accruable for unexercised options for up to 5 years plus 70 per cent of dividends or cash bonuses; or
- any amount if it would allow them to immediately take advantage of a planned sale or listing of the company to sell their purchased interests at profit.
Please reach out to us if you have any questions regarding any of the workplace specific changes summarised above.
