Employees will have the right to request flexible working arrangements and improved parental leave under the federal government's new employment standards.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday released the government's 10 new standards, which also include a statutory entitlement to redundancy payments and the guarantee of a fair work information statement.
"This is a core building block for the future of a fair and flexible industrial relations system for all Australians in the federal system," Mr Rudd told reporters.
"That represents about 85 per cent of all employees.
"We are proud of our achievements in delivering on our undertakings to Australians prior to the election on building a fairer and flexible system for the country."
The standards cover maximum weekly hours and requests for flexible working arrangements, notice of termination and redundancy pay.
Leave including parental leave and related entitlements, annual leave, personal carer and compassionate leave, community service leave, long service leave and public holidays are also covered in the new arrangements.
Employees also will have the right to a fair work information sheet from their employer.
"These new national employment standards are a real safety net for working Australians which cannot be stripped away, fairer for workers, simpler for employers," Mr Rudd said.
"This is important for the future because it provides the bedrock of the new industrial relations system for Australia, a core part of what we took to the election, a core part of what we are delivering having formed the government of Australia."
The new standards are contained in a 50-page document.
Mr Rudd said the 38-hour week was one of the national employment standards, but he acknowledged there would be different circumstances in various workplaces.
"We think it is very important that these basic protections exist across the entire industrial relations system and for the entire workforce which falls within the federal jurisdiction," he said.
"Individuals are constantly going to make their own choices, we understand that.
"But our important obligation to the nation is to make sure that you've got basic standards (and) a proper safety net that can't be stripped away and that's what this is all about."
Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard said the legislation bringing in the standards would be introduced later this year and they would become effective on January 1, 2010.
Every employee would be covered by the system, she said.
"Whether you work part-time in a restaurant or whether you work as a surgeon at a hospital, these 10 national employment standards are a safety net for you."
The Australian Industrial Relations Commission would use the standards as a base when creating "modern, simple" awards.
Gazetted public holidays would be guaranteed for workers, and employers could only request them to work on such days if it was reasonable to do so.
"Obviously there are some workers in our community who we all accept need to work through public holiday periods," Ms Gillard said.
On flexible working arrangements for parents of young children, the minister said in some businesses it would not possible to work from home or part-time.
"We understand Australian workplaces come in all shapes and sizes.
"But what we want to achieve through this new flexible set of working conditions for parents is that they are able to go to their employer and canvass the prospect of additional unpaid leave, so they can have a parent at home for the first two years of a child's life or canvass different ways of working."
Penalty rates would be dealt within awards and, unlike the Howard government's Work Choices system, would be protected under Labor's regime, she said.
"No one in this country can make an employment agreement that strips away those basic conditions."
Mr Rudd rejected a suggestion the fair work information sheet was just a way for Labor to require employers to hand out propaganda material to employees, as it had accused the previous government of doing.
"I don't think so. This is basically a basic fact sheet - here are your 10 national employment standards and this is what they mean and this is where you go," he said.
"It is pretty basic stuff actually. And you don't get a free mouse pad."
The information sheet would be generated by Fair Work Australia, Ms Gillard said.
"One of the problems in industrial relations, one of the reasons we are creating the one-stop shop, is it can be hard for employers and employees to work out where to go when they need advice and assistance," she said.
"That basic information will be provided through the fair work information statement."