A recent discussion paper issued by FEG (“Addressing corporate misuse of FEG”) highlights the need for a comprehensive review of insolvency law and an end to reactive piecemeal reform.
One of the discussion points is whether to reform Part 5.8A of the Corporations Act again. This part was originally inserted in 2000 after the Waterfront Dispute to prevent companies transferring employees to avoid employee entitlements.
The predecessor to FEG (GEERS) was itself created in 2013 after Fed Bart’s National Textiles failed to pay employee entitlements.
FEG was behind 2019 reforms strengthening penalties and recovery powers under Part 5.8A. No-one has been convicted under these provisions and no civil case has been considered by a Court. Despite this, FEG posits further strengthening the Part.
Surely it is time to properly consider Companies’ and Government’s roles in protecting and preserving employee entitlements in the context of the entire insolvency landscape generally, rather than tinkering with the edges again?
The full discussion paper is available here
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