Fair work amendment bill lacks balance says Ai Group

“The Fair Work Amendment Bill 2013 fails to strike the right balance in achieving fairness for employees and employers, and ensuring a flexible and productive workplace relations system. The Bill includes a number of problematic provisions which should be scrutinised through a Parliamentary Committee inquiry before the Bill is considered by either House of Parliament,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox.

“As it stands, the Bill has several significant problems. It expands the entitlements of employees and unions in numerous areas including: union right of entry, bullying claims, award penalty rates, the right to request flexible work arrangements, parental leave, hours of work and rosters.

“The absence of provisions to address the sensible changes which industry has been pressing for is glaring. The Bill does not address many worthwhile recommendations of the Fair Work Act Review Panel on individual flexibility arrangements, transfer of business and the general protections; nor does the Bill address other important issues such as the need to narrow the range of issues which can be the subject of bargaining claims.

“An apparent last-minute addition to the Bill dealing with award penalty rates is highly problematic. The provision states that modern awards ‘need to provide additional remuneration’ for overtime, shifts, weekend work, public holidays and the working of irregular hours. The provision fails to recognise that some awards apply to professional staff and do not include penalty rates because employees in these jobs are typically paid annual salaries. Also, numerous awards include the flexibility to reach agreement with an employee on an annual salary arrangement rather than paying penalty rates. There is the significant risk that these vital flexibilities will be lost if the ill-conceived legislative change is made.

“The Bill would give union officials the right to meet employees in lunch rooms, including for recruitment purposes. This harks back to the days when almost half of the workforce was unionised and industrial disputes were common. These days only 13% of employees in the private sector are union members. Currently, employers have the right to determine the location of union meetings in their workplace provided that the location is reasonable. Unions have the right to challenge the location in the Fair Work Commission if they regard it as unreasonable. There have been very few disputes about this issue over the years because employers typically are reasonable. Non-union members are entitled to relax during their lunch break and eat in peace rather than face the prospect of being forced to listen to union officials. The proposal must be abandoned.

“The Bill does not give the Fair Work Commission the power to arbitrate during ‘protracted bargaining’. The government has stated that consultation will continue over this issue and greenfields agreements. Greenfields agreements need to be addressed but the proposal to give the Fair Work Commission the power to arbitrate during ‘protracted bargaining’ needs to be abandoned.

“It is essential that the Bill is not rushed through parliament. Even though it is an election year, important changes to legislation that could have significant implications for business and jobs should not be rushed through parliament,” Willox said.