IN THE FIRST significant move to reform workplace relations since its re-election, the Federal Government will introduce three industrial relations bills when Parliament resumes in mid November, instead of waiting until next July when it will control the Senate
IN THE FIRST significant move to reform workplace relations since its re-election, the Federal Government will introduce three industrial relations bills when Parliament resumes in mid November, instead of waiting until next July when it will control the Senate.
Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews said he would introduce the Workplace Relations Amendment (Fair Dismissal) Bill 2004, the Workplace Relations Amendment (Protecting Small Business Employment) Bill 2004 along with legislation to maintain the validity of current collective agreements following the recent High Court Electrolux decision.
The two bills will exempt small businesses with less than 20 employees from the unfair dismissal regime and maintain the exemption for small business from making redundancy payments.
The High Court’s recent decision in Electrolux ruled that federally certified collective agreements could only contain clauses that related to the employment relationship. This implied that agreements already certified, which contained non-pertaining clauses, might now be invalid.
However Minister Andrews said the government was determined to ensure agreements entered into by business are upheld and enforced, and introduce legislation to validate certified collective agreements, while making invalid parts of the agreements, that do not relate to the employment relationship.
Such a move would strip union-friendly conditions, such as union right of entry and payroll deductions of membership fees, from enterprise agreements which were affected by the Electrolux decision.
The Australian Industrial Relations Commission had planned a full bench hearing on the Electrolux decision, but the two businesses whose agreements were chosen for the test case did not want to take part. As a result, the hearing was cancelled.
The ACTU said the government’s plans to legislate to validate existing Certified Agreements was vague and unclear. “Unions are concerned that this could be a smokescreen for an attack on employee rights,” said ACTU president Sharan Burrow.
“Certified Agreements are the cornerstone of our industrial system and yet the High Court’s recent decision has put them under a cloud. Unions, like business, want certainty on this issue but it is unclear exactly what the Coalition proposes.”
The ACTU also attacked the government’s other two bills, claiming that almost 5 million small business employees will have fewer rights and could suffer more bullying and harassment at work if the legislation is enacted.
“Millions of small business employees could be sacked for no reason under the Government’s plan to exempt small businesses from unfair dismissal laws,”she said.
“Exempting small business from unfair dismissal laws is a green light for those who would mistreat others. It sends a signal to small business managers that they can treat staff badly and if people speak up they can be sacked with no warning.”
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) welcomed the prospect of further, more fundamental reform to the Australian labour market and workplace relations system.
“Council supports the passage through the parliament of other major Coalition Government labour market reform initiatives that have been delayed, defeated or compromised in the Senate since 1996,” said ACCI chief executive Peter Hendy.
“Those reforms constitute about 70 separate measures. None of these measures are however sufficient in their own right.”
