'Disappointed' employers slam deadline for Secure Jobs, Better Pay report submissions

Ai Group calls deadline 'patently ridiculous,' says government report 'missed opportunity'

'Disappointed' employers slam deadline for Secure Jobs, Better Pay report submissions

Ai Group has called out the government's deadline for submissions for the interim review report on the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act.

The 409-page interim review was released on Monday, with the government saying it will accept submissions from stakeholders until February 16.

The Ai Group slammed this deadline in a new statement: "While this is only a draft report, the government's decision to give stakeholders just 13 days to respond to more than 400 pages of analysis and recommendations is patently ridiculous."

"It does not reflect a serious commitment by the government to seek meaningful input from industry."

The group's remarks come as it noted that some of the sensible measures to address the glaring problems in the legislation are "modest and will undoubtedly be viewed by industry as underwhelming."

"In many respects, the report reflects a missed opportunity to identify the major deficiencies in legislative amendments that were so brutally and controversially rushed through Parliament with notoriously inadequate consultation with industry," the Ai Group said.

Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act review

The Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act was passed in 2022 and introduced a variety of workplace reforms, including on:

  • Prohibiting pay secrecy
  • Sunsetting of "zombie" agreements
  • Initiating bargaining
  • Prohibiting sexual harassment in connection with work
  • Flexible work and unpaid parental leave requests
  • Bargaining disputes, industrial action, supported bargaining, single-interest employer authorisations, varying enterprise agreements to remove employers and their employees, and co-operative workplaces

The independent review, led by Emeritus Professor Mark Bray and Professor Alison Preston, found a "remarkable" 27% increase in the number of employees covered by a collective agreement.

It also noted that real wages have gradually increased each quarter since it has been passed, with early evidence indicating a positive impact in closing the gender pay gap.

"The Review Panel has found that the Secure Jobs, Better Pay reforms are, on the whole, achieving the Australian Government's intent, operating appropriately and effectively and with minimal unintended consequences," the interim review read.

It agreed, however, that the government should undertake a further review of the legislation in two to three years' time to allow for sufficient time for data to be collected and for the amendments to play out.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt said the findings are "encouraging."

"While it's still early days in terms of the benefits of these measures, it's very encouraging that the independent review sees the positive impacts to workers' pay and conditions," Watt said in a statement. "It's great to see more people covered by bargaining agreements, and the gender pay gap now at its lowest in recorded history."

The Australian Council of Trade Unions also welcomed the review in a statement.

"The independent review shows that these reforms greatly contributed to getting wages moving," said ACTU Secretary Sally McManus. "Imagine life for working people if they had to go through a period of high inflation, high interest rates and no real wage growth."

Disappointed employers

But employers were disappointed that some of its substantial concerns were not adequately addressed in the report.

It reiterated that multi-employer bargaining remains a "significant threat to jobs and enterprises," as well as on improving productivity and providing a sustainable foundation for real wage increases.

"The Australian Industry Group put up practical ideas to start to fix this, and we are disappointed they were not taken up," it said in a statement. "Ai Group will continue to press for genuine reform in this area."

Meanwhile, the other concerns that they felt were not adequately addressed include:

  • Elements of the bargaining system that remain unnecessarily complex and unfair to employers
  • The unbalanced and impractical manner in which the legislation now deals with bargaining negotiations, making them intractable
  • The increased extent to which employers will be exposed to costly litigation associated with disputation over requests for flexible work arrangements

Welcome recommendations

On the other hand, the elements of the draft review recommendations that employers will welcome include:

  • The call for a reconsideration of limitations on the use of fixed-term contracts and, in particular, the need for exceptions that are readily accessible to address anomalies that are increasingly coming to light
  • The call for the Australian Government to better and more rapidly advise the Fair Work Commission, employers and unions of its position on providing additional government funding for any outcomes of wage reviews to address gender undervaluation
  • The reviewers not endorsing the vast majority of the ACTU’s 41 demands to further skew the system in favour of unions

According to the employer association, they will further review the recommendations to make a constructive submission on the interim report.

"The proposal for a further review is nonetheless sensible, but this must not discourage or delay the fixing of problems as they come to light," it said. "It is crucial that following the next election, any government must refrain from adopting a 'set and forget approach' to workplace relations regulation."

The final report on the Secure Jobs, Better Pay 2022 is due to be provided to the government no later than March 31.