The Coalition's proposed fairness test leaves unclear whether employers would be able to offer entitlements that employees already had as "fair compensation" for conditions that were taken away, according to Flinders University's Professor Andrew Stewart.
The profit share of national income grew to a record high of 28.1% in trend terms after 12 months of Work Choices, while the wages share fell to a 30-year low of 53.3% according to the ABS.
The government's new fairness test should be subject to a review process, possibly within the Workplace Authority, and must be adequately funded to ensure it is timely and proficient, according to the AMMA.
The Government's fairness test legislation should be changed to prevent award coverage spreading to non-award employment, provide employers with more time to rectify breaches, impose lower penalties, and stop unions from taking court action against employers, according to the ACCI.
The ACTU's submission to the Senate inquiry into the fairness test legislation says the bill merely tinkers at the edges of fundamentally flawed regulation, but proposes significant changes, including widening the benchmark for the test and scrapping the $75,000 income cap and the Workplace Authority's capacity to take into account workers' personal circumstances.
The Australian Industry Group supports the Howard Government's fairness test legislation, but wants to change the formula for setting the $75,000 a year income cap and to ensure the test doesn't become a "device" to extend protected award conditions to award-free workers.
NSW legislates to guarantee special APEC public holiday entitlements; AIRC upholds summary dismissal for harassment; Qantas catering worker fails in raft of claims; Nareen Young takes over as head of Diversity Council; and SBS program focuses on Work Choices.
