It is compulsory for all federal system employers to give to new and existing employees a Workplace Relations Fact Sheet.

This follows amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth), which passed Parliament on 21 June 2007.

The Fact Sheet can be found here:

http://www.workplaceauthority.gov.au/graphics.asp?showdoc=/employers/WorkplaceRelationsFactSheet.asp

After 20 July 2007 employers in the federal system must provide a copy of the Fact Sheet to new employees within 7 days of their date of commencing employment.

Employers in the federal system have until 20 October 2007 to give a copy of the Fact Sheet to existing employees.

If an inspector attached to the Workplace Ombudsman (the federal government agency responsible for compliance with the Workplace Relations Act) determines that an employer has not complied with this requirement, the inspector may apply to a Court for an order imposing a pecuniary penalty on the employer of up to $110.  The employee affected by the non-compliance may also apply for this order.  The Workplace Ombudsman has indicated that before steps are taken to prosecute any employer for non-compliance the employer will be given an opportunity to rectify the non-compliance voluntarily.

These new requirements only apply to a constitutional corporation, all Victorian employers, the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority, employers employing a person in connection with constitutional trade or commerce as a flight crew officer, maritime employee or a waterside worker, an employer that is a body corporate incorporated in a Territory and an employer employing persons in connection with an activity carried on in the Territory.