Issue No 91 | 06 April 2001 | |
Trades HallNeale Towart's Labour Review
The Man who has never seen a blow-dryer in his life, but knows hot air when he sees it is back going crazy in this crazy mixed up world of IR. "Short-term" for Casuals Doesn't Mean Less Than Six Months
the full bench of the NSW IRC has ruled that those with less then six months service are not necessarily excluded from lodging claims under the State IR Act. They found that Regulation 5B(1)(d) did not say that engagement on a casual basis for a period of less than 6 months is necessarily for a short period." In another important aspect of the decision, the full bench said that Commissioner John Elder erred when he decided that the matter was beyond jurisdiction before attempting to conciliate it. The process was contrary to the Act's s87(1), which only enabled an application to be dismissed when "all reasonable attempts to settle the applicant's claim by conciliation have been made but have been unsuccessful", the bench said. This effectively means that the IRC's power to conciliate a dismissal claim cannot be circumscribed by arguments that it lacked the jurisdiction to later go on and arbitrate. The case involved a 19-year-old sales assistant who worked as a casual at Dymocks bookstore under the Shop Employees (State) Award. She was there for eleven weeks, working between four and 15 hours a week from July 27, 1999. She then did one shift on October 9, but, without any further notice, was not rostered on again. When she contacted the company, she was told that she wouldn't receive any more work. SDA, NSW v Librus Pty Ltd, t/as Dymocks Parramatta [2001] NSWIRComm 46 (26 March 2001) http://www.workplaceexpress.com.au Productivity and the 35 Hour Week Despite forecasts of doom, the legislation of a maximum of 35 hours work per week in France has not been disastrous, and has boosted producutivity for the who have embraced the laws. The French Labour Ministry claims 150,000 new jobs have been created so far because of the laws. The laws have had a one year trial and are being fully enforced. Employers who are using the laws find it allows them to extend operating times when they employ extra staff. Disneyland, for example, has increased its workforce by 10% and stays open for an extra 2 hours per day. Another outcome has been that at Wanadoo, France's largest Internet portal. Wanadoo has seen a dramatic increase in productivity from individual workers since it started to comply with the law last year. Wanadoo's salaried employees are now getting an extra 10 to 18 days off a year. But they're still getting their work done. And despite the intent of the law, Wanadoo has not hired any new employees. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,22531,00.html Working Hours Continue to Rise In Australia, the number of employees working longer hours continues to rise. The ABS survey of employment arrangements and superannuation shows that over 14% of employees with leave entitlements worked more than 50 hours per week. 41.1% worked more than 40 hours per week. 21% did unpaid overtime. 75% of casual employees expected to be working at the same employers in 12 months time. ABS. Employment Arrangements and Superannuation, Australia, 6361.0 (http://www.workplaceexpress.com.au) Equal Remuneration Should Be Enshrined In Law: Qld Report Queensland needs further industrial legislative reform to ensure pay equity, according to Queensland Industrial Relations Commissioner Glenys Fisher, who has handed down her report into pay equity. 'Worth Valuing: A Report of the Pay Equity Inquiry' was delivered on Friday 30th March The report calls for: � legislative reform to ensure pay equity in the making of awards, certified agreements and Queensland Workplace Agreements; � the redefining of 'remuneration' to cover more than just the basic wage; � the annual setting of a minimum wage; and � a draft pay equity principle to be considered for adoption by a full bench of the QIRC. The QCU's Grace Grace said soon after the report's release that, "on first glance, there's some pretty good stuff in it". She said the draft equal remuneration principle was "very extensive and most welcome". She was also pleased that the report recommended financial assistance for organisations running equal remuneration cases. http://www.workplaceinfo.com.au; http://www.workplaceexpress.com.au Post Employment Restraints by Stephen Price Employers often seek to protect their business interests from past employees attracting or taking customers. This article sets out the way various legal mechanisms operate to protect employers or limit their rights to restrain past employees. Price sets out: � what can and cannot be restrained; � whether adequate consideration has been provided by the employer in return for an employee entering into a post-employment restraint; � what confidential information is; � what is reasonable; � what activity it is that is being restrained; � geographic area of the restraint; � the length of time on the restraint; � how carefully drafted is the document setting out the restraint;and; � remedies available to employers to act on an apparent breach of a restraint agreement (CCH Work Alert; March 2001) Workplace Pregnancy Guidelines The Workplace Pregnancy Guidelines give effect to the HREOC's Report of the National Inquiry into Pregnancy and Work, Pregnant and Productive: It's a right not a privilege to work while pregnant. The voluntary guidelines set out the rights and responsibilities of employers, employees and other parties under the Sex Discrimination Act. It suggests positive ways that employers can act to avoid discriminating against pregnant and potentially pregnant female employees and provides a range of illustrative case studies. The full guidelines are available from the HREOC site at http://www.hreoc.gov.au/sex_discrimination/pregnancy/guidelines.html Workplace Accidents Stats The National Occupation Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) key statistical findings for 1998-99 were published recently. The preliminary data shows that in 1998-99: � there were 372 compensated fatalities in Australia (except ACT) which occurred because of workplace activity. A further 67 occurred on the journey to work; � the number of workers' compensation cases reported which resulted in a fatality, permanent disability or a temporary disability resulting in an absence from work of one week or more was 111,168 (excluding Victoria and ACT) � incidence rates, cases per thousand employees, were 20 for males and 12 for females (excluding ACT and Vic.). Frequency rates, cases per million hours worked, were 11 all persons, 13 for males and 8 for females. � Manufacturing industry (excluding ACT and Vic.) had the highest incidence rate (37 per thousand employees) and highest frequency rates (19 cases per million hours) � Labourers and related workers category had the highest occupational incidence rate at 50 per thousand employees and highest frequency rate (32 cases per million) (excluding Vic. And ACT) � The nature and type of disease which accounted for the highest proportion of all cases nationally (excluding Vic. And ACT) was classified as Sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles. Nearly 25% of all new injury and disease was back related (NOHSC News; vol. 2, no.1 summer 2000-01)
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Interview: Costa on Compo Labor Council�s secretary gives his take on the Big Stink over Della�s workers compensation package. Politics: Della's List All Labor members of Parliament were this week asked to indicate whether they would support injured workers. More than half said 'yes'. Here they are. Unions: Picketing Joy Rowan Cahill chronicled the definitive dispute of 2000 for Workers Online. He looks back on the battle and the lessons to be drawn from the workers at Joy. History: Vale Tony Mulvihill The environment, migrant workers and the hairy nosed wombat have reason to be thankful for the active citizenship of Tony Mulvihill. Economics: Stopping the Rot A national campaign is underway to persuade politicians from both the major parties that they need to be addressing the issue of poverty within Australia. International: East Timor � Beyond the Headlines It�s now more than 18 months since the violence and bloodshed following the popular consultation on the future of East Timor was front page news in Australia. Technology: Online Breathing Space The global collapse of faith in new technology has given journalists a chance to prepare themselves for the real revolution, writes David Higgins Satire: Howard Cuts Beer Price to Get Voters Drunk Prime Minister John Howard has agreed to cut the excise on beer, in the hope cheaper drinks will help get the country drunk enough to vote for him. Review: The Battle for 96.9Fm is Over What would you get if you crossed 2DAY FM, 2MMM, JJJ and MIX 106.5 FM? A fairly commercial radio station that wouldn�t know the difference between throwing up, stuffing up, growing up or breaking up.
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