An outdated information sheet will not suffice. If you are hiring under a pre-Fair Work agreement, there is a new requirement you cannot afford to overlook.

Q. Our company continues to employ our employees under a collective agreement which was approved under legislation before the introduction of the Fair Work Act (2009).

We have been providing a document called ‘Information Statement for Employees: Collective Agreements’ to new employees. This document was produced by the Office of the Employment Advocate, an organisation that no longer exists. 

Is there still a requirement under current legislation to provide an information statement to new employees, or would the current document suffice? 

A.  The Fair Work Act (ss.124-125) requires the employer to provide a similar statement, which is now referred to as the Fair Work Information Statement. This Statement is one of the National Employment Standards that prevails over any similar term of an enterprise agreement or transitional (collective) agreement. The Standard requires the following information to be provided to all new employees. The Statement does not need to be provided to an employee who has been terminated and re-employed within 12 months, such as a casual employee.

The Statement covers the following topics: 

  • minimum entitlements under the National Employment Standards (NES)

  • modern awards 

  • agreement-making 

  • individual flexibility arrangements 

  • freedom of association and protection from discrimination 

  • termination of employment, including redundancy and other dismissals 

  • union right of entry into workplaces 

  • the role of the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Commission. 

 

Providing the Fair Work Information Statement 

The Statement can be given to an employee by: 

  • giving it personally to the employee 

  • sending it by pre-paid post to the employee’s residential address or a postal address nominated by the employee 

  • sending it to the employee’s email address at work or another email address nominated by the employee 

  • an electronic link to the page on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website where the Statement is located, or an electronic link that takes the employee directly to a copy of the Statement on the employer’s intranet 

If the employer employs the same employee more than once in any 12 months and gives the Statement to the employee commencing employment the first time, there is no requirement to provide the Statement more than once in any 12 months.

A copy of the Fair Work Information Statement can be downloaded here.
 

Failure to provide the Fair Work Information Statement 

Any employer who fails to provide the Statement to a new employee before, or as soon as possible after, the employee commences employment is in contravention of the National Employment Standards provisions. There are significant penalties for failing to give a Statement to a new employee. 
 

Bottom line 

The Fair Work Information Statement is one of the National Employment Standards. It must be provided to all new employees of the employer as soon as practicable after they commence employment.