Published Tuesday, 19 February, 2008 at 09:00 AM
Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
Ombudsman backs changes to overcome serious I.R. compliance problems
A Queensland Workplace Rights Ombudsman report clearly shows why changes to the national industrial relations system proposed by the Rudd Government are needed to overcome serious problems with employers’ compliance with industrial instruments.
Workplace Rights Ombudsman Don Brown said that calls to the Queensland Workplace Rights Hotline and three recent industry investigations had revealed disturbing levels of non-compliance.
In his second quarterly report to the Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations John Mickel, Mr Brown said the problem was significant in areas of low unionisation such as hospitality and the service sector.
Mr Mickel said the Ombudsman’s report was clear evidence of the failure of the Howard government’s industrial relations policy generally, and Australian Workplace Agreements specifically.
“It also provides evidence of the wrong-headedness of the Federal Opposition in continuing to support AWAs.”
Mr Brown said traditional methods of accountability for employers had been severely curtailed by changes to the industrial relations system.
“The ability of accredited union officials and Queensland Department of Employment and Industrial Relations inspectors to conduct systematic inspections of the wage records of corporations has been severely hindered by WorkChoices.
“It is my assessment that without the restoration of these two accountability mechanisms to encourage award compliance, the Federal Workplace Ombudsman would require an army of personnel to begin to make an impression”, Mr Brown said. “Prompt reform is clearly warranted.”
Mr Mickel said the Ombudsman had reported that the eight different levels of industrial instruments in place following the introduction of WorkChoices continued to be an issue for both employers and employees.
“The Ombudsman has observed that while the government has changed at a federal level, the industrial laws governing the employment of employees of trading and financial corporations have not,” Mr Mickel said.
“Mr Brown observed that this would explain the high level of enquiries made to the Queensland Workplace Rights Hotline as the confusion surrounding WorkChoices still exists.
“The Ombudsman also drew attention to the time taken by the Office of the Workplace Authority to conduct the necessary fairness test prior to registering Australian Workplace Agreements, which he said continued to create uncertainty for employers and employees alike.”
Mr Mickel said that he supported the actions of the Rudd Government in moving to address these concerns, particularly the abolition of AWAs.
He said that calls to the hotline had increased by more than 10 per cent in the December quarter compared with the previous quarter.
“The Queensland Workplace Rights Office in fact recorded an increase to
82 calls a day after the federal election, compared with 68 a day before the election,” he said.
Mr Mickel said the QWRO had recorded 4737 calls in the December quarter, making total calls received since the office opened in July to 8953 at December 31.
“Employers make up just under one-third of all callers,” he said.
The most significant recurrent issues raised by callers were:
• Termination of employment
• Wages and conditions of employment
• Workplace harassment and bullying
• State or federal jurisdiction and industrial instrument coverage confusion
• AWA issues including coercion
• Employment and sub-contractual arrangement confusion or coercion
• Occupational superannuation, and
• Child employment issues
Mr Mickel said the Ombudsman had investigated 179 cases in the December quarter, and almost 75 per cent arose under or as a consequence of the federal WorkChoices legislation.
“The most prevalent issue was unfair dismissal from an employing company where the workers are excluded from any recourse under the federal WorkChoices legislation,” he said.
Mr Mickel said the Ombudsman had also reported concerns at the failure of the Australian Taxation Office to enforce payments of the federal Superannuation Guarantee.
The Queensland Workplace Rights Hotline can be contacted on 1300 737 841 or for further information visit the website at www.workplacerights.qld.gov.au.
Contact: Queensland Workplace Rights Ombudsman Don Brown on 3247 6236 or 0418 754 158
Ministerial contacts: Chris Brown on 3237 1944 or Shannon Mackay on 3237 1125
February 19, 2008
Workplace Rights Ombudsman Don Brown said that calls to the Queensland Workplace Rights Hotline and three recent industry investigations had revealed disturbing levels of non-compliance.
In his second quarterly report to the Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations John Mickel, Mr Brown said the problem was significant in areas of low unionisation such as hospitality and the service sector.
Mr Mickel said the Ombudsman’s report was clear evidence of the failure of the Howard government’s industrial relations policy generally, and Australian Workplace Agreements specifically.
“It also provides evidence of the wrong-headedness of the Federal Opposition in continuing to support AWAs.”
Mr Brown said traditional methods of accountability for employers had been severely curtailed by changes to the industrial relations system.
“The ability of accredited union officials and Queensland Department of Employment and Industrial Relations inspectors to conduct systematic inspections of the wage records of corporations has been severely hindered by WorkChoices.
“It is my assessment that without the restoration of these two accountability mechanisms to encourage award compliance, the Federal Workplace Ombudsman would require an army of personnel to begin to make an impression”, Mr Brown said. “Prompt reform is clearly warranted.”
Mr Mickel said the Ombudsman had reported that the eight different levels of industrial instruments in place following the introduction of WorkChoices continued to be an issue for both employers and employees.
“The Ombudsman has observed that while the government has changed at a federal level, the industrial laws governing the employment of employees of trading and financial corporations have not,” Mr Mickel said.
“Mr Brown observed that this would explain the high level of enquiries made to the Queensland Workplace Rights Hotline as the confusion surrounding WorkChoices still exists.
“The Ombudsman also drew attention to the time taken by the Office of the Workplace Authority to conduct the necessary fairness test prior to registering Australian Workplace Agreements, which he said continued to create uncertainty for employers and employees alike.”
Mr Mickel said that he supported the actions of the Rudd Government in moving to address these concerns, particularly the abolition of AWAs.
He said that calls to the hotline had increased by more than 10 per cent in the December quarter compared with the previous quarter.
“The Queensland Workplace Rights Office in fact recorded an increase to
82 calls a day after the federal election, compared with 68 a day before the election,” he said.
Mr Mickel said the QWRO had recorded 4737 calls in the December quarter, making total calls received since the office opened in July to 8953 at December 31.
“Employers make up just under one-third of all callers,” he said.
The most significant recurrent issues raised by callers were:
• Termination of employment
• Wages and conditions of employment
• Workplace harassment and bullying
• State or federal jurisdiction and industrial instrument coverage confusion
• AWA issues including coercion
• Employment and sub-contractual arrangement confusion or coercion
• Occupational superannuation, and
• Child employment issues
Mr Mickel said the Ombudsman had investigated 179 cases in the December quarter, and almost 75 per cent arose under or as a consequence of the federal WorkChoices legislation.
“The most prevalent issue was unfair dismissal from an employing company where the workers are excluded from any recourse under the federal WorkChoices legislation,” he said.
Mr Mickel said the Ombudsman had also reported concerns at the failure of the Australian Taxation Office to enforce payments of the federal Superannuation Guarantee.
The Queensland Workplace Rights Hotline can be contacted on 1300 737 841 or for further information visit the website at www.workplacerights.qld.gov.au.
Contact: Queensland Workplace Rights Ombudsman Don Brown on 3247 6236 or 0418 754 158
Ministerial contacts: Chris Brown on 3237 1944 or Shannon Mackay on 3237 1125
February 19, 2008