What are ‘general protections’ and do I need to comply with them?
The Fair Work Act sets out a number of ‘general protections’ for employees. These protections relate to: • Workplace rights, such as the right to participate in meetings and file complaints. It is illegal for an employer to take ‘adverse action’ against an employee because they choose to exercise any of their workplace rights. Adverse action is a broad concept that includes demoting or firing an employee or refusing to employ someone who has applied for a job because he or she intends to exercise a workplace right. • Discrimination on the basis of personal attributes such as age, gender or nationality, and • Sham Contracting – that is, when an employer attempts to disguise a traditional employer/employee relationship as a contracting arrangement so as to avoid paying superannuation, WorkCover and other entitlements. Fair Work Australia has responsibility for enforcing the general protections and ensuring employees who exercise any of the rights included in the general protection are no
