The Federal Government has introduced amendments to the Fair Work Act in a bid to protect the entitlements of tens of thousands of Queensland public servants it says are threatened.

 

Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Bill Shorten, said Fair Work Amendment (Transfer of Business) Bill 2012 will protect the entitlements of those employees where their jobs are lost in certain circumstances, including outsourcing or through asset sales.

 

“In general terms the amendments mean that when a public sector employee loses their job and there is a transfer of business to a  new employer in the national workplace relations system, the employee will have their conditions and entitlements protected and their prior service recognised,” Mr Shorten said.

 

The changes will strengthen the existing transfer of business provisions under the Fair Work Act 2009, which currently apply only when both the old and new employers are covered by the national workplace relations system.