Industrial News: February 2009
Industrial laws set to change
February and March 2009 are shaping up as the time when the major political parties will publicly debate the industrial relations laws they say are best for Australia. For its part, the federal government has introduced the Fair Work Bill 2008 to replace WorkChoices and introduce laws it claim will restore the balance between employers and employees.
The Liberal and National parties say they will support the abolition of WorkChoices but have indicated they will demand the new laws do not extend the rights of employees or trade unions.
If the Bill is passed into law, it will replace the Workplace Relations Act 1996. While this does not mean that everything will change, there will be significant changes to the way that industrial laws currently operate. In broad terms the new Fair Work Bill 2008 will establish a new safety net for employees comprising of new awards, ten national employment standards and minimum wages.
The National Employment Standards will contain the following:
- maximum hours of work;
- request for flexible work arrangements;
- parental leave and related entitlements;
- annual leave;
- personal, carers leave and compassionate leave;
- community services leave;
- long service leave;
- notice of termination and redundancy pay;
- public holidays; and
- Fair work information statement.
In addition new awards will be able to include 10 additional matters based on the circumstances of the industry.
The Fair Work Bill 2008 promotes collective bargaining and disallows individual bargaining (ie. AWAs). All collective agreements will be subject to proposed good faith bargaining rules under which employers must recognise and negotiate in good faith with an employee or their representative, meet when requested and make reasonable responses to all matters placed on the bargaining table. In addition to good faith bargaining, the Fair Work Bill provides that agreements may include any agreed matter relating to the employee or the employer relationship or the relationship between an employee and their union. This is a significant change from the existing arrangements.
The Fair Work Bill 2008 will simplify current unfair dismissal provisions, in particular in terms of who is and who is not able to bring a claim before the Tribunal. Under the proposed laws the following employees will be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal:
- an employee in a business employing less than 15 employees who has 12 months of service; and
- an employee in the business employing more than 15 employees who has six months of service.
Unfair dismissal claims will be determined by a new industrial tribunal called Fair Work Australia. There will a focus on informality and the resolution process although hearings may still be conducted where there are disagreements between the parties as to the facts. There will be no significant change to the current restrictions on taking industrial action. Such action will only be protected by law when it is in the context of bargaining for a new collective agreement.
A new tribunal will be established with marginally wider powers to conciliate and in limited circumstances arbitrate industrial disputes. If the government is successful in having the legislation introduced, it will apply from 1 January 2010.
Nick Blake
ANF Senior Federal Industrial Officer