The Recent Campaign in Australia and Employment Relations - Case Study Example

Workplace and Employment Relations Name Institution Date Course Workplace and Employment Relations Introduction Campaign periods are usually characterized by a battle of words and policies that each vying party pledges to implement when given the chance to come into government. The recent campaign in Australia is no exception. The National Coalition party was actively involved in the campaigns, trying to convince the voters that they are a more focused group than they were. Since many people attribute the Liberal party’s failure in the 2007 election to their stand in industrial relations, they came this time round with policies on industrial relations that were more convincing for the voters. This paper therefore seeks to investigate and present the theoretical assumptions that this government brings to employment relations. The paper also goes ahead to discuss implications of these assumptions as far as the workers and workplace is concerned. Workplace and employment relations The Liberal party stressed their commitment to retain and improve the Fair Work Act. This they said would benefit business, workers and the economy. When unveiling the coalition’s workplace relations policy, the party leader said that the party was keen to protect workers’ pay and work conditions as well as maximizing the workers’ opportunities to get the jobs. The party leader was however keen to keep away from suggesting that his regime would revive the WorkChoices of the Howard-era regime but revealed policies that propose small changes to the current legislation. The general understanding was that the Coalition was keen on small target politics as far as the workplace is concerned (Emma, 2013). Under this policy, the coalition aims at extending access to already existing individual flexibility arrangements to every worker stressing that workers won’t be excluded by the enterprise bargaining agreements. Individual flexibility arrangements policy however, is cause for great concern by unions with Ged Kearney, ACTU president, expressing concern about these arrangements. She points out that the coalition is keen to put individual contracts at the centre of its industrial relations policies. This move has the effect on workers since the arrangement means that they will leave wages and conditions, and they lose any semblance of power negotiation in the workplace. The coalition’s promised to recognize the importance of productivity, under the Fair Work Act, in enterprise bargaining. It would restore the right of entry provisions and also ensure that unions will engage in dialogue before striking under the protected industrial action. The Liberals planed for the establishment of the Productivity Commission Review in to the current act. This has the meaning that there are possibilities of more changes to the IR laws. The party leader however proposed wide public debate on the recommendations. The party recognizes the Work Choice changes that changed Australia’s industrial relations introducing dispensing and dismissal laws for firms under certain sizes as well as removing the no disadvantage test for workers. The liberals however say that they would never go back to the past. Business groups have also criticized this policy, describing it as too cautious. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and industry has expressed concerns that the arrangement is not able to immediately boost confidence in small business and labour markets. The ACCI C.E.O. argued that the proposed course of action doesn’t do much for the small business community observing that the unfair dismissal laws may still be around. Crook (2013) describes the Policy to Improve the Fair Work Laws as a transitional document. This he says comes in before implementation of real reforms towards the end of the coalition’s first term in office. The aim of this document is to neutralize the fear of the return of WorkChoices in the election year and to appease business lobby’s concerns about the right of entry and the expensive Greenfield agreements. About the Greenfield agreements, it will be expected that the negotiations foe these agreements should be completed in three months. Failure of completion within this time, the Fair Work Commission will have the powers to approve such agreements. It must however be determined that the proposed agreement will provide for working conditions that will be consistent with the current standards in industry. Cautious changes to the Fair Work flexibility enables workers to trade off leave and penalty rates provided they are not worse off overall. The framework proposes improvement of the Fair Work Commission and considers the establishment of an independent appeal jurisdiction. A common understanding is that such appeal jurisdiction would feature between the Federal Circuit Court or the Federal Court and the Fair Work Commission. The direct consequence may be an increase in possibilities that the employers will be more capable of defending any unfair dismissal claims. It may also mean an increase in the predictability of these cases (Ryan & Sowden, 2013). The individual flexibility arrangements proposed in the policy could also be used where there exists an enterprise agreement. This is a plus for employers and they may take the opportunity to thoroughly review their earlier enterprise agreements to see to it that they exercise the available flexibility arrangements to their full capacity. There was proposed a paid parental scheme (payment by the government). This arrangement allows for mothers to enjoy 26 weeks parental leave. The arrangement is however tied to their remuneration as opposed to being tied to the minimum wage. Individuals would also be entitled to superannuation throughout this period. Administration of the paid parental leave will be done by the Family Assistance office (Australian Payroll Association, 2013). The Liberal party is also determined to set clear regulation to address workplace bullying. Regarding this, the party proposes an arrangement where employees are required to attempt to resolve their issues through local mechanisms at their work places before they access the Fair Work Commission through a stop bullying order. This additional bullying complaint process step is aimed at encouraging employers to intervene in bullying claims early. Employers are also encouraged to enjoy protection through first conducting a review of their existing internal complaint system. Those employers without such a system in place could take the opportunity to develop and implement one now on internal complaints as well as the investigation procedure. There may be introduced a regulation procedure that will restrict the rights of access to workplaces by industrial bodies. This may incorporate replacement of the right of entry for discussions with another arrangement in the form of right of entry once the employee has requested the industrial representative to come in. There are expected more strict rules for industrial associations’ reporting that will ensure that funds will not be misused. It is suggested that applying corporate standards for regulation will to a large extent assist in ensuring transparency and therefore encourage proper expenditure with less misuse of funds. Faster investigations will also be carried out into allegations of misuse through creation of a Registered Organization Commission that will have powers to enforce the law. The liberal party centered much of its campaign on promises of more job opportunities and improved job security. The party leader explained during campaign that if voted in, the coalition would ensure that the carbon tax goes. This he said was good for peoples’ households and for their job security. To further improve the job security, the coalition promised to slash corporate tax and abolish the mining tax. All these promises were explained to touch on job security. A little analysis may reveal that the coalition plans to achieve job security through a program that believes that increasing corporate profitability will directly result to more secure jobs. Although this might work out as projected, current trends in the Australian economy proves otherwise. Many high profit companies in the country have been seen to increase employment in unsecure jobs. More people are now employed on casual contracts, usually short term and through third party employment arrangements. The trend has been increasing and now has found root in Australian offices, worksites and government departments. The point is that, the coalition has presented a contradiction at the centre of its popularity. It has pledged to deliver outcomes which are at the same time pushed away by the policy that it is set to employ. The job security question may turn out to be another point of instability for this government when it will fail to make a reality the job security that millions of Australian workers are looking up to (Donnelly, 2013). Conclusion As the government settles down, Australian workers are keen to see the implementation of its policies. Its recommendations on improvement of the Fair Work Commission and the several proposals on industrial relations are expected to work out well for the Australian worker. The proposal for mothers will be most welcomed. Most workers will however be keen to observe that the government achieves its pledges on enhancing job security and this will be a major performance test for the new government. List of References Donnelly, C 2013, Coalition's job security campaign contradictions, retrieved on 24th September 2013 from Cullen, S 2013, policies: Where the parties stand, retrieved on 24th September 2013 from Emma, G 2013, Abbott unveils Coalition's workplace relations policy, retrieved on 24th September 2013 from < http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-09/abbott-unveils-coalitions-workplace-policy/4679404 > Crook, A 2013, PromiseWatch 2013: industrial relations, retrieved on 24th September 2013 from < www.crikey.com.au/2013/05/10/promisewatch-2013-industrial-relations/> Ryan, W & Sowden L, 2013, The liberals are in implications for employers and employees, retrieved on 24th September from Australian Payroll Association, 2013, Australian Liberal Party wins the 2013 Election – what does this mean for workplace relations, Retrieved on 24th September 2013 from Read More