Brumby backs down on worker cash payments, but radical IR laws continue

The Brumby Government has been forced to abandon a plan that would have
demanded employees be paid in cash unless they otherwise authorised in
writing.

However, the government is still pressing on with complex and unnecessary
new rules about deductions from workers’ pay, and with requirements for
employers to change work arrangements so employees can meet family
responsibilities.

In Parliament today the Minister for Industrial Relations, Rob Hulls, had
the Minister for Community Services Lisa Neville move amendments on his
behalf to drop the bizarre cash payment requirement, and allow employers
to pay their staff by a range of means including deposits into a financial
institution specified by the employee.

”It has taken the combined efforts of the Opposition and of employer
groups including VECCI, the VFF and the VACC to drag John Brumby and his
government into the twenty-first century,” Shadow Minister for Industrial
Relations Robert Clark said.

”What remains astounding is that neither our self-proclaimed
business-friendly Premier, nor any members his cabinet, had enough
real-world experience to realise the practical implications of this
outdated requirement.

”It shows the risks that Australia would face if it were to end up with
union-dominated and inexperienced Labor governments wall-to-wall across
the nation after 24 November.

”Even though Labor has backed down on this point, it is continuing to try
and impose complex and unnecessary rules on employers about deductions
from workers’ wages, with penalties of up to $10,000 which can be ordered
to be paid to the relevant union.

”The law already prohibits unauthorised deductions from workers’ pay, and
the Commonwealth Workplace Ombudsman already takes vigorous action against
any breach of Commonwealth law. If there are remaining breaches of state
law, Rob Hulls needs to get his Workplace Rights Advocate or his
department to take action against offending employers.

”Labor is also continuing to try and implement union demands that
employers be required to make wide-ranging changes to work arrangements,
including obligations to change working hours, let employees work from
home and reschedule meeting times, so that workers can meet parental or
carer responsibilities.

”The ACTU made these demands in 2005 but they were rejected by the
Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), which said they were
too complex, and unfair to employers.

”Now, having been rejected by the AIRC, the Brumby Government is trying to
impose these changes by legislation, even though they would be
counter-productive and actually make it harder for workers to negotiate
flexible work arrangements with their employers,” Mr Clark said.