INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – GOVERNMENT POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Rebel unions reject Labor’s unity call

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 16-Oct-24

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt will address the ACTU executive on Wednesday. He will highlight the federal government’s achievements in securing "better pay and job security" for Australian workers during its first term in office. With a view to the upcoming election, Watt will also contend that Opposition leader Peter Dutton and the Coalition represent the greatest threat to workers’ pay and conditions since the WorkChoices regime. He will in turn urge the union movement to unite in support of Labor and the ACTU, at a time when some unions that primarily represent blue-collar workers are pushing to establish a rival peak union body.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, ACTU

ACTU takes sledgehammer to economy

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 3-Oct-24

Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black has urged the federal government to reject the ACTU’s push for further changes to industrial relations laws. They include abolishing junior pay rates, extending the minimum standards for gig-economy workers to freelancers and scrapping non-compete clauses. Black says businesses are still contending with the most recent tranche of IR reforms, and any further changes would boost inflation and stall economic growth if they are not linked to productivity.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU

No retreat on IR laws: Albanese

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Sep-24

Industrial relations is set to be a key federal election issue, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated on Tuesday that Labor will not back down on the reforms it has implemented. The Coalition in turn has committed to repealing key aspects of the reforms, including multiple-employer bargaining. Meanwhile, Albanese has told the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner that his government is "proudly pro-business and pro-worker". Albanese used his speech to highlight Labor policies and initiatives that have helped the business sector. However, BCA CEO Bran Black and president Geoff Culbert both criticised Labor’s workplace reforms in their speeches at the event.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Right to disconnect? We’re already doing it, say bosses

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Original article by Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 20-Feb-24

The federal government’s move to enshrine an employee’s ‘right to disconnect’ in workplace laws continues to attract scrutiny. Australian Human Resources Institute CEO Sarah McCann-Bartlett says these provisions of the Closing Loopholes Bill No. 2 have increased employers’ concerns about the pace and extent of the government’s workplace reforms. Research undertaken by the AHRI in October found that 40 per cent of respondents’ organisations already have a ‘right to disconnect’ policy, while nearly 90 per cent said the policy is successful.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE

Shambolic right to disconnect fix

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Feb-24

The federal government was criticised over its failure to consult with employers’ groups regarding the ‘right to disconnect’ provisions of its latest industrial relations reforms. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has attracted further criticism for belatedly consulting with employers with regard to the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2024, which is intended to remove criminal penalties for employers who breach the right to disconnect. The haste with which the Closing Loopholes Bill No. 2 was pushed through parliament resulted in the criminal penalties inadvertently being left in the legislation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Staff disconnects from Tony Burke’s own office

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 5 : 13-Feb-24

The Department of Employment & Workplace Relations has disclosed that 36 per cent of its employees had an approved working from home arrangement at the end of October 2023. However, an Australian Public Service employee census survey shows that 72 per cent of the department’s staff had worked remotely at some point during 2023, including on an informal or ad hoc basis. The release of this data has coincided with the federal government’s push to introduce a legislated right for employees to ‘disconnect’ from their workplace outside of their designated working hours. Meanwhile, some 57 per cent of employees across the public service who completed the survey had access to working from home arrangements in 2023, compared with 46 per cent in 2021.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

No scrutiny of workplace laws

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Patrick Commins, Euan Black
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 13-Feb-24

The Productivity Commission has disclosed that the federal government did not consult it about proposed changes to industrial relations laws, including a legislated right for employees to ‘disconnect’ from their workplace. The revelation has strengthened concerns that the Closing Loopholes Bill No. 2 had been rushed through parliament. In addition, the bill as tabled by the government was subjected to a regulatory impact statement, but subsequent amendments – including the right to disconnect – were not subject to such scrutiny. The bill was passed by the lower house on Monday.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Crossbench close to workplace deal

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Feb-24

The federal government and crossbench senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie are said to be close to a deal on key provisions of the Closing Loopholes No. 2 Bill. This includes the right of employees to ‘disconnect’ from their workplace outside of their standard hours of work. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has backed down on a contentious provision that could have resulted in employers being fined for unreasonably contacting staff outside of working hours. He says workers should also be entitled to ignore after-hours phone calls and emails from their employer without fear of being penalised for doing so. Burke and the crossbenchers are also believed to have reached agreement on the right of casual workers to request conversion to permanent employment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Burke open to IR bill concessions

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 31-Jan-24

A Senate inquiry’s report on the federal government’s Closing Loopholes Bill will be tabled on Thursday, and the remaining provisions of the bill are set to be debated in parliament next week. Sources have indicated that the government is prepared to make some amendments to the bill in order to secure the support of Senate crossbenchers. These could potentially include delaying the starting date for measures relating to casual employment and the gig economy. However, Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black says the bill requires substantial changes rather than ‘technical amendments’, given that it will have a significant economic impact on jobs and employment.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Small business lashes senators over insulting haste on IR bill

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Dec-23

The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia has criticised the Senate for passing the Closing Loopholes Bill on federal parliament’s last sitting day for the year. COSBOA’s CEO Luke Achterstraat and chairman Matthew Addison have written to senators expressing their concern that the bill was passed too quickly and without consulting employers; this includes amendments that were only announced on the day the legislation was passed. COSBOA also contends that provisions of the bill that were hived off and will be voted on separately in 2024 should be abandoned.

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED