Slash unfair dismissal rights, bosses urge Peter Dutton

Employers are urging the Coalition to wind back unfair dismissal rights and expand small business exemptions from workplace laws in a pre-election push that intensifies the IR political fight.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar wants to limit small business exposure to Labor’s ‘productivity killing’ IR laws. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

National employers are urging the Coalition to wind back unfair dismissal rights and expand small business exemptions from the federal workplace laws in a pre-election push that intensifies the political fight over industrial relations.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar revealed the organisation will seek to reduce the “absolutely unbearable” regulatory burden facing small business by pressing Peter Dutton’s opposition to change the legal definition of a small business employer from 15 to 25 employees.

Unions slammed the employer plan as a “green light for bad bosses”, warning up to one million workers would have their unfair dismissal rights, protections from wage theft and job security protections taken from them if the business lobby got its way.

Increasing pressure on the Coalition to commit to abolishing key sections of Labor’s workplace laws, the Business Council of Australia also called for the opposition to go beyond its pledge to drop casual employment changes and new right-to-disconnect laws and also scrap multi-employer bargaining, same job, same pay labour hire laws and recent intractable bargaining changes.

Outlining the BCA’s pre-election advocacy pitch, chief executive Bran Black said the workplace relations system was out of balance and change was needed.

“I hope the Coalition absolutely takes on the proposals that we have put forward,” Mr Black said. “I hope that everybody listens to the proposal that we put forward … we will talk to both sides of politics, like we always do.”

Asked if the Coalition would consider supporting a new small business definition as part of the workplace relations policy it takes to the election, opposition employment spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said it was “engaging with stakeholders and will announce our policies before the election”.

“Industrial relations changes should seek to provide simplified compliance, fairness, cost-effectiveness and support for growth and productivity,” Senator Cash said.

“We need to free up small businesses rather than stifling them with red tape and regulation.”

Mr McKellar said changing the small business definition from 15 to 25 employees would exempt genuine small businesses from a raft of “productivity-killing measures” introduced by the Albanese government.

Under the existing workplace laws, workers need to be employed for at least six months before they can apply for unfair dismissal but those working for a small business need to be employed for at least 12 months.

“Normally it’s six months but for those that are in the space of 15 to 25 employees, it means their normal period goes from six months to 12 months,” Mr McKellar said.

“Effectively, it’s like a mandatory statutory probation period. Effectively, you can dismiss or terminate someone and not be subject to unfair dismissal for up to 12 months for a business up to 25 employees.”

But Mr McKellar said employers were not proposing to change the exemption threshold on redundancy entitlements for businesses with less than 15 employees.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said Senator Cash’s comments about the “need to free up small business” was another sign that “Peter Dutton and the Coalition would cut pay and conditions if they won the election”.

“When Coalition ministers say small business needs to be ‘freed up’ from workplace laws, Australians know what they mean,” Senator Watt said. “They mean a return to the lower wages and insecure work they delivered last time they held office.”

He said the Coalition had already promised to cut casuals’ rights and labour hire workers’ pay, and scrap the right to disconnect, “but now we know they have a wider agenda to cut the pay and conditions of millions of Australian workers”.

“Make no mistake – Peter Dutton will have his hand in your pocket the moment he becomes Prime Minister,” Senator Watt said

“With Australians under cost-of-living pressure, it’s hard to think of a worse possible time to be cutting wages and job security, but that’s exactly what the Coalition are promising.”

Senator Cash said the government “shows nothing but contempt for small business”.

“The government’s ignorance of, and ideological opposition towards, small business is exposed in its industrial relations agenda,” she said.

“Labor’s new laws make an IR system already steeped in bureaucratic complexity even more complex for small businesses and their employees.

“Most small businesses have extremely limited resources. Small business owners keep telling us they want laws that are easy to understand, comply with and adhere to, without the need for costly lawyers to understand the complex changes imposed by Labor.”

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said implementing the agenda of employers would let them “return to the days when they could hire and fire when they feel like it, without having to give workers a reason for why they are working one day and gone the next”.

“The last thing any working person needs is less rights at work, less pay and less job security. This will make cost-of-living pressures much worse,” she said.

“We demand all political parties rule out any reduction to workers’ rights this federal election.”

Blue-collar unions will meet on Wednesday to examine bankrolling Greens and crossbench candidates in an election protest against Labor over legislation that forced the CFMEU’s construction division into administration.

The unions have timed the gathering to clash with the first meeting of the government’s new National Construction Industry Forum, to be hosted by Senator Watt. The ACTU executive will meet on the same day and be addressed by Senator Watt.