‘Seismic’ changes to industrial relations causing concern in sector

Changes to our industrial relations laws proposed by the Federal Government have ruffled feathers among aged care providers on their plan to improve working conditions, which includes accommodating flexible working hours for aged care staff and changes to bargaining between workers and employers.

The Goverment is seeking feedback about the bill, and providers have until November 11 to submit their amendments to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee.

Employment Minister Tony Burke said the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill which was introduced into Parliament on Thursday, was aimed at improving conditions for those in low-paid industries, including aged care.

The Bill in its current form will make it harder for employers to reject requests for more flexible working hours and some providers have called the Bill “seismic”, sharing concerns it would force multiple employers to bargain against their wishes, increase strikes and lead to higher unemployment.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of industry peak body, Aged & Community Care Providers Association’s (ACCPA), Tom Symondson, voiced concerns about the timeframe the Government has given for the consultation process.

“One early concern is the notion that employers can be compelled into bargaining they have not consented to, which threatens to upend the traditional employer-worker relationship which relies on genuine bargaining,” he explained. 

“We are seeking more time to examine the implications of these and other changes for the aged care sector so that our members are fully informed.

“ACCPA is currently undertaking a detailed review of the legislation and plans to consult its members as soon as possible.”

In addition to providing employees with more access to flexible conditions and opening up bargaining, other proposals in the legislation include:

• Limiting the use of fixed-term contracts
• Prohibiting pay secrecy clauses
• Strengthening discrimination protections
• Changes to the Fair Work Act to include gender equity and job security

Carolyn Smith, Aged Care Director at United Workers Union, said the new legislation was a positive for aged care workers and that the Government had the aged care sector in mind when formulating this Bill. 

“The ability to do multi-employer bargaining, particularly with the ability to bring the Government as the funder to the table, will take out some of the confrontational aspects of aged care bargaining because many providers say they want to give their workers a pay increase, but they aren’t able to because of insufficient funding,” Ms Smith said. 

“The key thing that will happen for the sector is having employers, workers and the Government as the funder at the table, so we can have some of those meaningful conversations about what wage increases these workers deserve and how we’re going to make sure they get them.”

Mr Symondson agreed that increasing wages was the solution to the workforce shortage, as a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) revealed Australia will need 17,000 more direct aged care workers every year to meet basic standards of care.

“It is critical that we have a fairly paid and valued workforce in order to do this and we want to see aged care workers’ pay increase to recognise the incredible role they play in supporting older Australians,” Mr Symondson said. 

Ms Smith added that the current system is not working to retain and attract staff and that wages have been “going backwards generally, and workers in the care sector have had real trouble keeping pace with the cost of living”. 

The Bill was referred by the Government to a Senate committee for examination, and interested parties have until November 11 to make their submissions to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee.

Submissions can be emailed to the committee’s Secretariat at [email protected], call 02 6277 3521, or submit it via the Parliament of Australia website.