The Australian Government has released an exposure draft of its proposed ten National Employment Standards (NES), together with a discussion paper calling for public feedback.

The NES will cover the key minimum entitlements for all Australian employees, to apply from 1 January 2010. These entitlements will be guaranteed in legislation so that they cannot be excluded or modified in a way that undermines the safety net.

The NES are:

1. Maximum weekly hours of work
2. Requests by parents for flexible working arrangements
3. Parental leave (and related entitlements)
4. Annual leave
5. Personal/carer’s leave and compassionate leave
6. Community service leave
7. Long service leave
8. Public holidays
9. Notice of termination and redundancy
10. Fair Work Information Statement

The discussion paper outlines each of the NES in detail and highlights particular areas that stakeholders and interested parties may wish to comment on. Therefore the Government is inviting employers, employees and the community to provide feedback on the proposed NES.

The Government welcomes responses to the issues raised in the discussion paper by 4 April 2008.

All submissions will be carefully considered in developing a final version of the NES to be introduced into the Australian Parliament later this year as part of the Government’s substantive workplace relations reforms.

The discussion paper is available on the internet at the workplace.gov.au with further details on how submissions can be provided.

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