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• Casuals Aren't Short Term if Previously Full-time/contract
• Ethics in the Workplace
• The Experience of AWAs: case study evidence
• Management Risk Associated with Shiftwork & Working Time Arrangements
• Banking on a Better Deal for Staff - AWAs in the spotlight in the finance sector
• Rate of Remuneration
• Transmission of Award Obligations
• Long Live the Rich
• ULIN - Union Library and Information Network Welcomes New Members

Casuals Aren't Short Term if Previously Full-time/contract

The AIRC has ruled that, under the Workplace Relations Act regulation 30B(3)(a), which appears to exclude casual employees from unfair dismissal laws, workers who have been on a series of contracts or have previously been full time employees are able to access the regulation.

In the ADI Ltd case, the full bench upheld an appeal by an employee who had been employed on a succession of fixed term contracts more just more than a year before continuing as a casual for nine months. A single commissioner had initially ruled that only the nine months was relevant to the case.

In the Brown Gouge Rosebud case, Cmr Holmes dismissed an employer"s objection to allowing an unfair dismissal claim, and said that the regulation did not limit the nature of employment to casual work but rather referred to "engagement by a particular employer for periods of employment."

The Full Bench agreed with Holmes in the appeal over the ADI case, finding that it was not only the period employees worked as casual that should be counted in determining whether they were "short term."

http://www.workplaceexpress.com.au

Ethics in the Workplace

It is possible to be unethical, but still operate within the limits of the law. However, breaking the law often starts with unethical behaviour that has gone unnoticed. A large amount of attention has been paid to promoting workplace ethics over the past two decades. It has become standard for companies to provide ethics training and have policies and procedures in place to deal with unethical behaviour. Therefore you might expect ethical behaviour to be the 'norm' in organisations. Surveys seem to indicate this is not the case.

(New Workplace; vol. 6, no. 3, 2000; http://www.dir.nsw.gov.au)

The Experience of AWAs: case study evidence

Case studies conducted last year by the Office of the Employment Advocate (OEA) highlighted key issues around the uptake of AWAs, the organisations that introduce them, the types of worker covered and the negotiation process.

Reasons AWAs were introduced into workplaces varied widely. Mainly to achieve changes in work organisation not perceived to be possible under existing arrangements.

The OEA studies overall showed that the AWAs had provided a mechanism for management to alter working hours and remuneration to suit management.

The data from the OEA also showed that AWAs were increasingly being used to cover not only professional employees but now skilled workers. The coverage varied greatly between workplaces, with some companies restricting AWAs to just a few managerial employees, while others trying to extend them to the entire workforce.

The negotiation process is a crucial aspect and the studies show clearly that the introduction of AWAs rarely involve substantial employee input. This lack shows up clearly in ADAM data on the content of AWAs, that reveals less than 20% of AWAs had provisions relating to consultation, compared to more than 40% of non-union agreements and more than 60% of union agreements.

(IR Intelligence Report; issue 7, 2000)

Management Risk Associated with Shiftwork & Working Time Arrangements

The 'Safety Performance related to shiftwork in the Qld mining industry' report (published by the Qld Mining Council) highlighted a number of issues associated with the appropriate management of risks around shiftwork and working time arrangements.

The report seems to conclude that there is no evidence for an increase in risks associated with the introduction of 12 hour shifts. Also that no regulation is required and that the industry can risk manage any hazards at a workplace level. Part of the reason for this is the fear by employer groups about any codes of practice or guidelines that may be too prescriptive and interfere with their desire to implement maximum flexibility regimes in their operations.

The major concerns with this risk management approach are:

• The "fitness for duty" framework (which includes assessment of fatigue, drugs and alcohol, physical and psychological impairments such as stress) can run the risk of locating the principle responsibility for their control with the individual employee alone. Thus if fitness for duty tests are introduced, the onus is on the employee to prepare and recuperate recovery from the shift, which is really only possible if shift design (which remains even more firmly in management control under the no regulation regime)allows adequate recovery.
• The gaps and obstacles to a risk management approach include a lack of standardised measures and instruments; little research on how generic risks translate into a mining environment; little validation or reliability associated with current control measures.

Industrial relations obstacles are also a problem with a difficulty of controlling the number of overtime hours (many sites report average hours in excess of 52 per week). Risk management will struggle to adequately control risks associated with long and intensive work schedules.

(IR Intelligence Report; issue 7, 2000)

Banking on a Better Deal for Staff - AWAs in the spotlight in the finance sector

Jonathan Seifman and Peter Punch

The Federal Court injunction restraining the Commonwealth Bank from offering AWAs to all staff serves as a lesson for large employers.

Justice Finkelstein found there was a sufficiently arguable case that the bank sought to coerce the union to enter new enterprise agreements (a potential breach of s298M and s170NC(1) of the Workplace Relations Act).

Finkelstein also concluded that the FSU had an arguable claim that employees had been misled and that "if it is not intentional in the sense of being deliberate, it at least strikes me as reckless."

It seems unlikely that the federal government had anticipated that the Federal Court would be the battleground on which the workplace relations legislation it has introduced would be fought.

(Australian Industrial Law Update; newsletter 10, October 2000)

Rate of Remuneration

The Full Bench of the AIRC endorsed the approach in Bell v McArthur River Mining Pty Ltd as to the meaning of the "rate of remuneration applicable to the employee immediately before the termination":

"the rate of remuneration applicable to the employee is an assessed annual rate of the cash payments made or liable to be made by the employer on behalf of the employee, or benefits in kind for the private use of the employee, exclusive of payment made as reimbursement, and identifiable as the reward or recompense for the work or service in the period of employment immediately prior to the termination of employment".

The council in this case claimed the remuneration was in excess of Workplace Relations Act regulations ($69,200 at the time).

Appeal by Watiyawanu Community Government Council against decision and order of Eames C on 3/12/99) AIRC, (S7110) 30/6/00; (2000) 48 AILR 4-331

(Australian Industrial Law Update; newsletter 10, October 2000)

Transmission of Award Obligations

The SDA applied for an award to be made to rope Newslink Pty Ltd into the Airport Retail Concessions Award 1990. It was agreed that Newslink was a successor or transmittee of the airport retail concessions business of Ansett. The issue was what award obligation was transmitted to Newslink as an employer. The Full Bench was satisfied that the conditions of the 1990 award should be observed by the new employer and this obligation was attached to Newslink upon its acquisition of the business from Ansett.

The SDA application for a new award was referred to Redmond C.

Application by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association to vary the Airport Retail Concessions Award 1990, AIRC (S7888) 10/7/00; (2000) 48 AILR 4-328

(Australian Industrial Law Update; newsletter 10, October 2000)

Long Live the Rich

In France, in the year 2000, there are still blatant inequalities between people as regards health. Take for example, a 35-year old industrial worker, in the prime of life. What do we find? That his life expectancy is 6.5 years shorter than that of a manager, a doctor, or a notary of the same age. Things will not get better with old age, of course, but what is even more worrying is that inequality starts in the cradle. Premature births and low birth weight - which often lead to the development of serious diseases - are 1.5 to 2 times more frequent among the children of industrial workers and employees with low incomes.

(Trade Union World; no. 10, October 2000)

ULIN - Union Library and Information Network Welcomes New Members

Sydney based trade union librarians meet regularly to share ideas and for mutual support. The group includes librarians from the Public Service Association of NSW, Police Association of NSW, NSW Teachers Federation, CFMEU National Office, ACIRRT, AMWU, Labor Council of NSW, NSW Nurses Association.

Our current projects include contributing to the GLASS union list, which facilitates free inter-library loans within the group.

ULIN has a listserv hosted by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). It's great being able to post tricky requests for information to the listserv or collective brains trust. Libraries were recently offered free archival storage boxes from one of our members, via the listserv. Thanks AMWU.

A forthcoming issue of ALIA's Incite will include a feature on trade union libraries.

Most importantly, the Christmas Party is just around the corner, so don't delay if you would like to join our group of librarians and information workers from trade unions. Contact:

Mary Schmidt
NSW Teachers Federation
Phone: 9217 2111
E-mail: [email protected]

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  Issue 77 contents

»	Games Workers Still Waiting on Closing Ceremony
»	Showdown: Howard Faces Court Over Rail Sell-Off
»	World Awaits Landmark Slave Labour Decision
»	American Voters Reject Vouchers
»	Illawarra Fights The Big Bastard
»	Retailers Rethink FairWear Retreat
»	Killer Holidays: Activist Fired for Taking Vacation
»	ANZ Faces Contracts Challenge
»	Cup Workers Score Heady Brew
»	Meals on Wheels Turns Mean
»	Wild Horses Get Maurie's Goat
»	Labor Council backs Souths Rally
»	Sisters Celebrate Four Years
»	Reith to Face the Music

»	The Soapbox
»	Sport
»	Trades Hall
»	Tool Shed

»	Nader no Fels
»	Sartor's Veladrome

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