On 29 March 2021, most of the jobkeeper provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 were repealed, except as summarised below.
This means that on and after 29 March 2021 an employer cannot:
- give an employee a jobkeeper enabling direction, or
- request an employee agree to change their days and time of work.
All jobkeeper enabling directions and agreements ceased to have effect on 29 March 2021. Any orders of the Fair Work Commission giving effect to a jobkeeper enabling direction also ceased to have effect on 29 March 2021.
Jobkeeper provisions that continue to operate include:
- s.789GR, which provides that if an employee is subject to a jobkeeper enabling direction for a period, that period counts as service, and
- s.789GS, which deals with how an employee accrues leave entitlements, and how redundancy pay and payment in lieu of notice of termination are calculated, where a jobkeeper enabling direction or stand down applies to the employee, or where the employee has agreed to take paid annual leave under s.789GJ(2).
From 29 March 2021, an employee, employer, employee organisation or employer organisation can still apply to the Commission to deal with jobkeeper disputes about these matters.The Commission will be able to deal with these disputes by arbitration, mediation, conciliation, expressing an opinion or making a recommendation.
These are the only types of jobkeeper disputes where the Commission has retained the power to make orders. The Commission will no longer be able to make orders giving effect to jobkeeper enabling directions or substituting one jobkeeper enabling direction for another, but it will be able to make orders that it considers appropriate.
See: