Union push to expand same job same pay laws

In the wake of employers spending tens of millions of dollars to try to wind back industrial relations changes, unions have made submissions to a Senate inquiry to have them expanded.

United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy.

Key unions are urging the Albanese government to expand proposed same job same pay laws and give casuals the right to seek permanency after just three months in a job.

In the wake of employers spending tens of millions of dollars to try to wind back Labor’s industrial relations changes, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the United Workers Union have made submissions to the Senate inquiry into the Closing Loopholes bill proposing more rights for unions and workers.

The AMWU says Labor ‘s proposal allowing conversion of casuals after six months does not go far enough, and the qualifying period for conversion should be reduced to three months.

“The AMWU submits the laws need to be more responsive to combat the increasing pervasiveness of casual employment and on this basis the qualifying period for an employee to access casual conversion should be three months,” the AMWU says.

While the bill’s proposed same job same pay applications would seek to enshrine a protected rate of pay for labour hire workers in line with a site enterprise agreement, the AMWU wants the protection expanded to rostering conditions.

The union says it is not clear whether entitlements pertaining to changes of roster would be extended to labour hire workers.

“The AMWU would argue that while penalty rates that apply under an enterprise agreement for late change of roster or loss of meal breaks would be passed on to a labour hire worker, any entitlement to notice of roster changes or the need to agree to changes in roster will not,” it says.

“It is also unlikely that benefits extending to where employees are allowed to “sign on” and “sign off”are recognised travel time will apply to labour hire employees, particularly if workers are required to travel to other sites to perform work.”

In its submission, the United Workers Union wants the same job same pay laws expanded to allow multiple labour hire providers to be covered by a single order which could be automatically transmitted to new providers.

The UWU says major employers like Coles, Woolworths and Linfox use multiple labour hire companies at the one site but the new laws will require multiple same job same pay applications to be made to the Fair Work Commission even though the labour hire firms are engaged by a single host employer covered by the one enterprise agreement.

The union is also opposing proposed exemptions for work subject to a training arrangement, and short-term labour hire engagements, arguing the government is creating new loopholes through laws that are supposed to close loopholes.

UWU national secretary Tim Kennedy told The Australian the union was proposing “reasonable common sense solutions” to closing the labour hire loophole

“This loophole needs to be closed and it can be done efficiently and with some common sense, that’s the bit we have added in,” he said.

The union t says the scheme for the regulation of labour hire arrangements could be made more efficient and sensible by allowing a single order to apply to multiple labour hire providers who supply labour to the same host and are covered by the same enterprise agreement;

It also wants to allow for the transmission of a regulated labour hire arrangement order from a former labour hire provider to a new labour hire provider in respect of the same host and enterprise agreement.

The union says the Closing Loopholes Bill’s core principle does not apply as a general principle but if there are sufficient resources and wherewithal for an application to be made to commission for a regulated labour hire arrangement order.

“This is less than optimum. It means that labour hire workers can be paid less than collectively bargained rates of pay applying to their work in circumstances where no application to the Fair Work Commission is made,” the union says.

“Undoubtedly, many thousands of Australian workers will continue to be paid less than a bargained rate of pay when doing the same work, simply because no case has been run in the Fair Work Commission on their behalf.”

It says host employers who use labour hire frequently use more than one provider.

“Many major employers use two, three or even four different labour hire companies; for example, the major supermarkets (Coles and Woolworths) use third party logistics operators such as Schenker, Linfox and Toll, and major pharmaceutical storage and distribution providers such as Onelink.

“In order to ensure the relevant collectively bargained enterprise agreement pay rates apply to each labour hire worker concerned with the host, multiple applications must be made in respect of each labour hire provider.

“It would be preferable that the mechanism allow a single application to be made in respect of all of the labour hire providers with whom the host has an arrangement, in relation to the enterprise agreement in question.”