WA Change of Ownership - What are My Employee Rights?

Hi Kalulu,

Are you currently on the probation period? Are you currently getting paid normal wages during the period after change of ownership?

In regards to what your rights are, change of employer ownership may concern a "transfer of business". For this to happen, your employment under the previous employer needs to have ceased, and you are currently employed under the new employer, in employment of the same nature. If this is the case, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) would apply. In particular, Part 2.8 for Transfer of Business.

First, have a look at your employment agreement with your former employee. Work out whether your employment with them has actually terminated. Second, does the agreement still apply for some time notwithstanding change of ownership? If so, this term may be incorporated into the contract with the new employer. Otherwise, is there a provisional period during which the former contract and its terms and conditions/entitlements remain in force until a new contract is drafted up?

I would suggest reaching out to your new employer and asking what your employment status is. Perhaps there was a delay in drafting the new employment contract due to various business decisions/uncertainties. In part, your employment status and entitlements depend upon what information you were told/given prior to the change of ownership. If your new employer informed you that "nothing would change until a new employment contract is drafted up and signed" then this suggests that they have agreed to keeping your previous employment contract on foot during this provisional period. In this case, you would still be employed under the conditions of your previous employment contract. This means, you have essentially entered into a verbal agreement with the new employer, whereby all the previous conditions and entitlements apply, until a new contract is drafted up.

If you have further questions, you can contact the Fair Work Ombudsman. They will be able to give you further information about relevant legislation(s) and positions. You can also check out this fact sheet by the FWO: when businesses change hands.

 

Hi Kalulu,

There does not appear to be any time frame for when employers need to provide employees with an employment contract (known as a "registered agreement" because the contract needs to be registered with the Fair Work Commission).

What happens is, any previously registered agreement(s) continues, as if the transfer had not taken place, until the registered agreement terminates or a new registered agreement is available to replace the old. During this time, notwithstanding no operating registered agreement, minimum employment conditions under the National Employment Standards remain in place.

The legislation governing these National Employment Standards is the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth): Section 61 and relevant divisions.

You can do a search on the Fair Work Commission website to see if any registered agreements are currently operating under your employer's business name: find an agreement.

From what you have advised, it appears that you are currently not under a probationary period. The probationary period only begins once a new registered agreement is made available. In the meantime, you are working under the same conditions/benefits/rights/obligations as listed in your previous employment contract.

If you are still unsure and would like to enquire further, I would recommend contacting the Fair Work Ombudsman: http://www.fairwork.gov.au/contact-us