Essay On Fair Work Act 2005

The current industrial relations framework – the Fair Work Act 2009 – attempts to rebalance the shift of power previously swung in the employers favour by the former system – the Workplace (Work Choices) Relations Amendment Act 2005. When examining the intentions of the Fair Work Act it is important to consider its predecessors. For the majority of the twentieth century Australia’s industrial relations system was one of conciliation and arbitration; until the 1980’s when there was call for a more flexible, individualised system (McCrystal, 2006). Easily the most controversial amendment to the Work Relations Act 1996 was the Work Choices 2005 legislation which saw employers elevated to a stronger position of power due to restrictions on industrial action, reduced power of trade unions and the removal of the ‘no-disadvantage test’ (Creighton, 2011). Focusing on ‘fairness’ in the workplace, the Fair Work Act endeavours to rebalance the power between employer and employee. Furthermore, it addresses the needs of a changing workforce by introducing an expanded safety net of national employment standards, a simplified consolidated set of modern awards and increased provisions for flexibility (Creighton, 2011; Stewart, 2012; ). The Fair Work Act provides a legislative framework that encourages communication between all stakeholders and supports the employer-employee relationship. Increasing complexity in organisational forms is resulting in a shift in the employee-employer relationship. Recent decades have seen the requirements of both employees and employers change dramatically. Shifts in the market have resulted in the need for employers to be more flexible with their workforce while employees have focused less on job security and more on career development (Baker, 2009; Rubery et al, 2002). Research has shown the need for companies to move away from the traditional ‘employment relationship’ of dependence on the employer and towards a more interconnected relationship with accountability on both sides (Millar, 2012; Baker, 2009). Consequently, the Fair Work Act promotes a more individualised approach to negotiations with the use of single enterprise agreements whilst still providing a safety net of minimum entitlements for individual workers. However there has been some criticism that, setting minimum wages and conditions, and the role that Fair Work Australia plays in approving agreements is a somewhat intrusive …show more content…
The National Employment Standards constitute the minimum requirements for all employees in Australia and cannot be displaced by any separate agreements (Fair Work Ombudsman, n.d.). The standards cover a range of issues such as maximum weekly hours, leave entitlements and redundancy payments. One major change is a right to request flexible working arrangements for all carers however it must be noted that this is only a right to request and may be denied on reasonable business grounds (Stewart, 2012; Waterhouse and Colley, 2010; Fair Work Ombudsman, n.d.) Making a positive step towards supporting working families, the Fair Work Act introduced a government funded paid parental leave of 18 weeks’ pay at the national minimum wage (Stewart, 2012). Two more notable changes that have impacted the working conditions of Australian employees are the reinstating of the unfair dismissal protection to include businesses with fewer than 100 employees and an anti-bullying regime whereby an employer who feels they have been mistreated may apply for an order to stop the behaviour (McCrystal, 2014). These features of the Act certainly promote a work-life balance and encourage an interconnected relationship of consultation and