Public Sociology, An Introduction to Australian Society

Chapter 20: Working 24 7 the new work ethic


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Case Study

From Work Choices to Fair Work: A sociological review
On April 28, 2006, shortly after the Howard Federal Government's Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 introduced substantial deregulation of working conditions (March 27), the Sydney Morning Herald reported the case of a juice bar worker whose pay was cut from $14 to $8.57 per hour. The company had effectively placed itself into liquidation, reformed as another company, and offered all employees the lower rate of pay under a new workplace agreement. After much public pressure, the company reinstated the original rates of pay for all existing employees, but maintained it had the right to offer the lower rate to any new employees. According to critics of the legislation, the case was a sign of things to come in the new workplace relations system.

The Work Choices Act made a number of substantial changes to the employer/employee relationship, marking a move away from state protection of worker rights towards a market-based, negotiated, and individualised approach. Drawing on Roth (2006), the key changes and issues raised by the legislation included:

The removal of provisions for long-service leave, notice of termination, jury service, superannuation, or redundancy payments from Awards. While provisions for current employees under existing Awards continued, once an employee took a new job or even a promotion, they became subject to the new requirements under the Act.
The Act stipulated only four minimum working conditions: the maximum hours for full-time work, annual leave, personal/carer's leave, and parental leave.
Workplace enterprise agreements (WEAs) that resulted from enterprise level bargaining were no longer required to pass 'the no-disadvantage test' (which had stated that conditions under a WEA could not force workers to be worse off than workers under minimum Award conditions).
Industrial action (for example, strikes and 'go-slows') were significantly limited; unions and employees could only take 'lawful' industrial action when negotiating a WEA if a majority of employees had voted for it after the holding of a secret ballot. Any industrial action could be prevented if deemed to be causing significant harm to a third party, particularly if the harm was a threat to health, safety, or the economy. The right to strike was substantially constrained and this significantly weakened employee bargaining power.
Organisations with up to 100 employees were exempt from unfair dismissal laws. Critics argued that workers would have little protection from arbitrary dismissal, which could threaten them with immediate economic hardship, while the Federal government claimed it would encourage employers to hire more staff.

Former Prime Minister John Howard's Work Choices ACT was subject to heavy criticism, and according to many commentators, was a major cause of his subsequent loss in the 2007 elections.

In March 2009, the Rudd Labor Government passed the Fair Work Act, effectively scrapping Work Choices. The major change of the new legislation was in new unfair-dismissal laws, and the introduction of a minimum safety net of 10 legislated National Employment Standards for all Australian employees. The Act became fully operational on January 1, 2010. The government website http://www.fairwork.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx lists the rights and responsibilities of workers, employers, and contractors, and provides access to media releases on workers' compensation and Fair Work Ombudsman audits since the introduction of the new legislation (DEEWR 2009).

References and further reading
Journal of Australian Political Economy, December 2005, No. 56, Special Issue on the likely impact of the 'Work Choices' legislation, available online: http://www.jape.org/
Roth, L. 2006, The New Federal Workplace Relations System, NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service, Briefing Paper No. 2/06.
Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005: http://www.aph.gov.au/LIBRARY/intguide/law/workchoicesbill.htm
A guide to parliamentary resources relating to passage of the Act.
Australian Government, 'Fair Work Online', http://www.fairwork.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx
Australian Government, 'Fair Work Australia', http://www.fwa.gov.au/ (Accessed June 8, 2010).
ABC.net.au 2009, 'Fair Work laws replace WorkChoices', http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/01/2613068.htm
Australian Government, Ministers' Media Centre 2009, 'End of Work Choices marks the start of Fair Work', Media Release, July 1,
http://www.deewr.gov.au/ministers/gillard/media/releases/pages/article_090701_083029.aspx
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations 2009, 'Australia's Fair Work System', http://www.deewr.gov.au/WorkplaceRelations/NewWorkplaceRelations/Pages/FactSheets.aspx

Discussion questions

Compare Work Choices and Fair Work. Do you side with the critics or the advocates of each? In what ways can a sociological perspective (using the four features of the sociological imagination discussed in Chapter 1) inform your opinion on this topic?
What do you consider to be the three most important features of work legislation? How were your three chosen features covered under Work Choices? How are they covered under Fair Work? Which legislation best supports your chosen areas?

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