The Business Council of Australia has warned the Albanese government that a proposal to have union officials “oversee” the independent Fair Work Ombudsman would expose sensitive and confidential business and financial information, give rise to claims of bias and undermine public confidence.

The big business lobby warned that a single national scheme to monitor labour hire activity, as proposed by the government as part of its industrial relations reform agenda, would impose a “cumbersome and complex” new system for casual employees and labour hire firms. The system would be “impossible for business to work with” and would “risk sapping” jobs and economic growth, the BCA added, in a formal submission published on Sunday night.