The Federal Budget for 2022-2023 revealed on 29 March 2022 has outlined changes to a number of areas affecting businesses and their workers, including possible amendments to the NES.

The Budget includes the following plans:

• A significant increase in funding for skills training, along with tax incentives for small businesses (with up to $50m turnover) to train and upskill employees (including a $120 tax deduction for every $100 spent on external training courses)
• A focus on supporting the care and support workforce to address the impact of recent events including the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters
• Increased funding for legal and family support services aimed at strengthening early intervention in family, domestic and sexual violence
• Incentives for takeup and completion of apprenticeships
• A boost in funding for jobs and skills training for Indigenous Australians
• Enhancement to the Paid Parental Leave (“PPL”) scheme to enable more families to access PPL making it fully flexible and subject to a broadened income test (household income up to $350,000)
• Amending the calculation method for redundancy payments to more fairly reflect average working hours over the period of employment (rather than simply based on years of service)
• Increased finding to the Fair Work Commission for a small business support unit
• Changes to taxation arrangements for Employee Share Schemes to expand access to employee share schemes and make participation easier for businesses and their employees

The budget bills will now be considered by the House of Representatives and subsequently by the Senate. While the changes are yet to be finalised, employers can start to consider the impacts on their business and how they may benefit from increased funding and other incentives that have been announced.

If you would like to discuss these or other workplace issues please contact Andrew Bland or call 02 9412 3077.