For thousands of workers, the changes could mean the difference between keeping their job and losing it
The Business Council of Australia welcomed the latest changes to the country’s workplace regulations – a Fair Work amendment that allows companies to modify details of their enterprise agreement with workers in a shorter span of time.
The update temporarily slashes the minimum notice for workers – to weigh proposed changes to their employment terms – from seven days to one day.
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The amendment was approved by Attorney-General Christian Porter in his capacity as federal industrial relations minister. It comes in response to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has crippled the global economy in recent weeks.
Some examples of the changes which employers can introduce range from implementing flexible work arrangements and cutting down work hours, to delaying pay increases and cutting back on non-essential expenses, as companies struggle to preserve cash and stay afloat.
The Business Council is pinning its hopes on the new rule as a way of “keeping Australians in work and setting the economy up for recovery”.
‘Common sense’ changes
Travel and trade restrictions continue to hurt economies the world over, leaving employers to revaluate cost-containment measures such as salary reductions and furloughs.
“With borders closed, regular duties changing and normal business hours decreasing, employers need the maximum amount of flexibility to protect jobs, avoid retrenchments and strengthen the Australian economy,” Business Council CEO Jennifer Westacott said in a statement.
Westacott believes such “common-sense, temporary changes will enable businesses to collaborate with unions and workers to keep people connected to their employers and save jobs”.
“For thousands of workers, the changes will mean the difference between keeping their job and losing it because their employer was hamstrung by restrictive, time-consuming processes to make necessary and reasonable changes,” she said.
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Exploiting workers’ fears
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), however, isn’t convinced. The shortened period of evaluation purportedly limits the opportunity workers have to consult with their union and co-workers and assess the implications of proposed changes.
“These changes will allow employers to ram through reductions in pay and undermine job security,” said ACTU Secretary Sally McManus.
The amendment will likely leave workers “exposed to employers seeking to exploit the fear caused by the pandemic and to pressure workers into rushed agreements, locking out their access to advice,” she said.
