Fair Work Commission has developed to help employers meet their obligations to notify their employees about the sunsetting of their pre-2010 agreements.

About pre-2010 agreements (‘zombie agreements’)

Certain kinds of registered agreements that were made before 1 January 2010 continued to operate when the Fair Work Act fully commenced on 1 January 2010. Many of these pre-2010 agreements no longer cover anyone and so have ceased to operate.

However, some employers and their employees are still covered by pre-2010 agreements and these agreements continue to operate today. These are also known as ‘zombie agreements’.

Pre-2010 agreements will automatically terminate on 7 December this year unless an application is made to the Commission to extend the default period. You can find out more about sunsetting of pre-2010 agreements on our website.

Employers are required by law to notify their employees

Employers who are covered by pre-2010 agreements are required to notify their affected employees in writing about the sunsetting of the agreement. They must do this before 7 June 2023. Failing to give the required written notice to employees is a breach of a civil penalty provision.

Resources to help employers

We have developed resources to help employers meet this obligation.

  • Guide for employers (PDF) — Information for employers about pre-2010 agreements (‘zombie agreements’) and the written notice requirement
  • Template written notice (Word) — Employers can use our template written notice to meet their obligation, but they don’t have to

Sharing these resources with your community

I encourage you to share these resources with your community of legal professionals.

I also invite you to send us any feedback you or members of your community have about these resources. Please email feedback to Louise Pine, Government Reforms Communications, at louise.pine@fwc.gov.au.

If you’d like to raise anything with me directly, I can be contacted on (03) 8656 4700, 0412 767 105 and murray.furlong@fwc.gov.au.

Yours sincerely

Murray Furlong
General Manager

Fair Work Commission