Archived Industrial News: September 2005

Real IR picture not in the advertising

As the debate continues over the Howard Government's proposed changes to Australia's industrial relations laws, the Government is preparing its $25 million advertising blitz to convince us that we will all be better off - despite less job security and reduced wages and conditions.

But so far the Prime Minister and his Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Kevin Andrews, have said little to reassure workers and their families that they will not be worse off as a result of the government's IR agenda.

On several occasions during media interviews, both have refused to give any undertakings in this regard.

What we do know about the proposed changes is that they are designed to radically change the current system of negotiating and establishing fair wages and conditions for all workers, including nurses.

They will result in reduced wages and a loss of standards and entitlements built up over many years by workers and their unions.

Impact on awards and agreements
In the nursing industry, wages and conditions are currently regulated by awards and collective agreements negotiated between the ANF and employers.

The ANF estimates that over 80% of enterprises that employ nurses are covered by industrial agreements (or in the case of NSW) with award variations giving effect to agreements negotiated by the NSWNA (ANF NSW).

Nursing agreements usually refer back to, and apply, a range of matters from awards, including skill based classification structures and definitions, weekend penalties, shift allowances, overtime, sick leave, rosters, annual leave and long service leave, to name a few.

Agreements are read in conjunction with the award. Where the agreement is silent, the award will apply.

Awards therefore, still play a significant role in establishing minimum standards, and operating as a 'safety net' for wages and conditions.

'No-disadvantage' test
At the moment, an agreement cannot be certified in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) unless it contains wages and conditions at least as beneficial as the relevant award.

This is called the 'no-disadvantage test' and is applied in relation to union agreements, non-union agreements and individual agreements known as Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs).

The proposed changes announced by John Howard in Parliament in May will abolish this no-disadvantage test in relation to agreements and instead will apply five statutory minima: a minimum wage rate (currently $12.75) and just four basic conditions:

In addition, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (the independent umpire) will no longer be involved in approving and certifying agreements. All agreements will be approved by the Office of the Employment Advocate - originally established to promote AWAs.

This means agreements will only need to meet the five statutory minima listed above to pass the approval process.

For people with limited or no bargaining power, the result will be a reduced wage rate and the loss of all the award conditions that previously applied to supplement an agreement.

For example, existing award provisions such as classification structures; shift allowances; penalty rates; casual loadings; overtime; any annual leave entitlement over four weeks; long service leave award provisions; sick leave entitlements over eight days; public holiday penalty rates; redundancy pay; roster provisions and many more long held entitlements will no longer automatically apply.

This will allow employers, where they are able, to legally undercut award conditions, and over time, push wages and conditions lower and lower, ultimately undermining the living standards of working families.

This is what happened in Western Australia following the introduction of individual Workplace Agreements during the Court Liberal Government, and in Victoria after Jeff Kennett abolished the state award system.(1)

'Allowable matters' reduced
Not only are awards to be removed as the safety net for agreements, but the government has also stated its intention to reduce the number of allowable matters in awards (currently 20), removing clauses relating to long service leave, superannuation, jury service leave and notice of termination.

Where entitlements in awards exceed the five minimum standards, (eg. eight days sick leave; four weeks annual leave), the government has indicated the award 'will be adjusted to the Fair Pay and Conditions Standard'.(2)

The remaining provisions are also at risk because the government has announced it will also review the remaining allowable matters, particularly classification structures.

It is not just long-held community standards like overtime, penalty rates for weekends and public holidays and various leave entitlements that are threatened by the government's IR changes, but the new standards recently established through the ACTU's work and family test case (see page 5).

The AIRC has awarded new rights for employees with caring responsibilities, however if they are not included as part of the government's five statutory minima, or are deemed non-allowable in awards, few employees stand to benefit from this decision.

Nurses, like all employees and their families, have a lot to lose.

References
1 Buchanan, J. Recasting Australian employment law implications for the health sector, Australian Health Review, 2005, 29:3, p.265.
2 Kevin Andrews, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Herald Sun, 8 July 2005, in response to the question 'Will entitlements be reduced in awards where sick leave, annual leave or parental leave exceeds the basic award standard?'

Debbie Richards
ANF Federal Industrial Research Officer