INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Penalty rates are real money for real people

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Original article by Jo-Anne Schofield
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 63 : 29-Oct-15

There is pressure from employers in Australia’s hospitality and tourism sectors to reduce weekend penalty rates, but such a move would be unfair to workers. They often earn close to the minimum wage. Employers claim that the reduction in penalty rates would have beneficial effects, but their arguments are flawed.

CORPORATES
ACTU, VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNITED VOICE

Union membership slumps to record low, ABS finds

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 28-Oct-15

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that just 1.6 million people across the economy are members of a union. The proportion of workers who are union members fell from 17 per cent to 15 per cent in the year to August 2014. Union membership in the private and public sectors has fallen to 11.1 per cent and 39 per cent respectively. However, ACTU secretary Dave Oliver estimates that about 1.8 million Australians are union members.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Union influence out of control: Ferguson

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Oct-15

Former ACTU president Martin Ferguson believes that trade unions have too much influence over the Australian Labor Party. The former federal MP has criticised Labor’s resistance to changes to the industrial relations system. Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Scott McDine has dismissed Ferguson’s criticism as hypocritical. As chairman of Tourism Accommodation Australia, Ferguson represents the interests of employers in the tourism sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION

Penalty rates a relic of class war

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Original article by David Leyonhjelm
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 9-Oct-15

If the Australian Government is serious about job creation, it should remove penalty rates. A bill introduced by Senator David Leyonhjelm, of the Liberal Democratic Party, would remove obstacles to job creation in the restaurant, retail and tourism industries. The bill removes penalty rates for working on Saturday and Sunday. However, penalty rates would apply after the first 10 hours of work on any day.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Let companies and workers set their own penalties

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Original article by Michael Angwin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 63 : 8-Oct-15

The Productivity Commission has proposed reducing penalty rates in some industries for working on Sundays. However, penalty rates should not apply across-the-board in all industries. They could instead be applied on an enterprise basis, whereby penalty rates are only paid to employees as compensation for working what are deemed to be "unsocial hours". While there is some risk of employers abusing an enterprise-based system by reducing staff wages, most can be expected to treat employees fairly.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, VUE DE MONDE

Aurizon wins fight over legacy perks

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 4-Sep-15

The Federal Court has upheld a Fair Work Commission ruling terminating perks and job protection clauses in a union agreement with Aurizon, Australia’s biggest rail freight operator. The agreement had been imposed on Aurizon in 2010 when the Bligh Government privatised Queensland Rail. The so-called legacy provisions banned forced redundancies, placed restrictions on hiring and rostering and allowed for free travel for 6,000 employees and their families.

CORPORATES
AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, AUSTRALIAN RAIL, TRAM AND BUS INDUSTRY UNION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Softly, softly IR push

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 5-Aug-15

Tourism Accommodation Australia chairman Martin Ferguson has urged the Federal Government to look at implementing the Productivity Commission’s proposed changes to penalty rates. The draft report recommends reducing Sunday penalty rates for workers in sectors such as hospitality and retailing to the level that applies for people who work on Saturdays. It also recommends allowing small and medium enterprises to offer new employees a statutory enterprise contract that does not have to be approved by the Fair Work Commission.

CORPORATES
TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Softly, softly IR push

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 5-Aug-15

Tourism Accommodation Australia chairman Martin Ferguson has urged the Federal Government to look at implementing the Productivity Commission’s proposed changes to penalty rates. The draft report recommends reducing Sunday penalty rates for workers in sectors such as hospitality and retailing to the level that applies for people who work on Saturdays. It also recommends allowing small and medium enterprises to offer new employees a statutory enterprise contract that does not have to be approved by the Fair Work Commission.

CORPORATES
TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Hospitality workers underpaid $1.2m

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 25-Jun-15

Data from the Fair Work Ombudsman shows that 2,752 restaurant and cafe employees were not paid their full wage entitlements in 2012-13. It is estimated that they were collectively underpaid some $A1.215m. Penalty rates for working on weekends accounted for 17 per cent of the underpayments. Restaurant & Catering Australia CEO John Hart says the report has coincided with the upcoming deadline for employers to make final submissions to the Fair Work Commission on penalty rates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Business in victory over forced leave

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Jun-15

Australia’s Fair Work Commission has ruled that employers are entitled to require an employee covered by an industrial award to take annual leave if they have at least seven weeks of unused leave. Meanwhile, workers who have at least four weeks of accrued leave will be entitled to cash out two weeks’ leave. The Commission noted that cash-out provisions are included in many enterprises agreements. The ruling has been welcomed by employers’ groups, but the ACTU says it will disadvantage many people on low wages.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP