21.1 Main participants in Australia’s work environment and their responsibilities
In Australia, we recognise that there are four main participating groups that have defined roles and responsibilities in managing our work environment.
Source 21.1 Participants (stakeholders) in Australian employee relations
Government
The federal government has an enormous influence on Australian employee relations through the enactment of legislation that controls and influences the conduct of employee relations. The government is also the largest employer in the Australian economy, employing approximately 30% of the Australian workforce.
Both federal and state governments actively intervene in the conduct of employee relations by passing a multitude of laws that directly affect the employer–employee relationship in areas such as pay and working conditions, employee contracts, taxation, occupational health and safety, equal opportunity and discrimination. The federal government is also responsible for the overall management of our economy, which then influences the level of inflation and economic activity.
Workplace health and safety
It is imperative that when workers go to their place of employment, there are specific laws in place relating to the health and safety of that workplace. The importance placed on having a healthy and safe workplace has increased over time, as have the penalties that are imposed on employers in the event that a workplace is deemed unsafe and workers in fact suffer injury or some form of harm.
Safe Work Australia was created by the federal Safe Work Australia Act 2008 and is a body made up of government (federal and state), employer and employee representatives with the purpose of developing and driving national policy development on work health and safety and workers’ compensation matters. Its specific roles are to:
- achieve significant and continual reductions in the incidence of death, injury and disease in the workplace
- achieve national uniformity of the work health and safety legislative framework, complemented by a nationally consistent approach to compliance policy and enforcement policy
- improve national workers’ compensation arrangements.
While Safe Work Australia is responsible for creating national policy and developing model work health and safety laws, it is then the responsibility of the federal, state and territory governments to regulate and enforce these laws in their respective jurisdictions. To ensure that all workplaces across Australia adhere to the same safe workplace practices, it is imperative that each jurisdiction passes legislation that is consistent across the various jurisdictions.
In 2011–12, 228 workers died due to an injury incurred at work. This equates to 1.99 deaths per 100 000 workers. Work-related injury and illness were estimated to cost $60.6 billion in the 2008–09 financial year. This represented 4.8% of GDP.
In 2011 the Work Health and Safety Act was passed by the federal government, with its primary objective being to provide for a balanced and nationally consistent framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces by:
- (a) protecting workers and other persons against harm to their health, safety and welfare through the elimination or minimisation of risks arising from work; and
- (b) providing for fair and effective workplace representation, consultation, cooperation and issue resolution in relation to work health and safety; and
- (c) encouraging unions and employer organ-isations to take a constructive role in promoting improvements in work health and safety practices, and assisting persons conducting businesses or undertakings and workers to achieve a healthier and safer working environment; and
- (d) promoting the provision of advice, information, education and training in relation to work health and safety; and
- (e) securing compliance with this Act through effective and appropriate compliance and enforcement measures; and
- (f) ensuring appropriate scrutiny and review of actions taken by persons exercising powers and performing functions under this Act; and
- (g) providing a framework for continuous improvement and progressively higher standards of work health and safety; and
- (h) maintaining and strengthening the national harmonisation of laws relating to work health and safety and to facilitate a consistent national approach to work health and safety in this jurisdiction.
South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have all adopted the model Act and regulations. This approach has not yet been adopted by all states, however. For example, in Victoria a decision was made not to adopt the model policy at this stage and WorkSafe Victoria continues to enforce Victoria’s occupational health and safety laws and regulations; Western Australia is still undecided.
Go to www.cambridge.edu.au/hass9weblinks for a link to a YouTube video about the development of the new workplace health and safety laws.
Anti-discrimination laws
International human rights act to guarantee workplace equality and form the basis for our workplace anti-discrimination laws in Australia. Each state and territory has also enacted its own anti-discrimination legislation. Discrimination can be classified as either direct or indirect. Direct discrimination occurs when an employee is treated in a less favourable manner due to factors such as their gender, race, age and religion. Indirect discrimination is a little more subtle and may involve imposing requirement, condition or practice easily compliable by one group but very difficult if not impossible by another group.
If an employer takes adverse action against an employee or prospective employee, based on that person’s race, colour, sex, sexual preference, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or carer’s responsibilities, pregnancy, political opinion, religion, national extraction or social origin Under the Commonwealth workplace laws, the Fair Work Ombudsman has the power to investigate allegations of workplace discrimination and then start legal proceedings against the employer. The discriminatory adverse action provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 are extremely broad in scope, inadvertent or deliberate discrimination.
There are many situations occurring in the workplace that would be classified as ‘adverse actions’ or discriminatory acts, such as:
- undertaking conduct that is intimidating, offensive or humiliating
- making unwanted and offensive sexual advances (sexual harassment)
- treating an employee adversely because that employee has lodged a complaint of discrimination against their employer
- detrimentally altering the position of an employee in the organisation (such as demotion, pay rate classification and access to employee benefits)
- discriminating between one employee and other employees in areas such as complexity of tasks, harassment and comparative workload.
DEVELOPING YOUR UNDERSTANDING 21.1
You be the judge! Read the scenarios below and discuss whether these are discrimination.
Scenario 1: A female employee who had been on maternity leave returned to work on a part-time basis. This employee, who held a senior management role at the global company, was then forced by her managers to try to complete a full-time workload in the part-time hours she had been contracted to work.
- Do you think that she has been discriminated against because of her gender and management position? If so, what would you regard as a successful outcome? Justify your response.
Scenario 2: Tessa (aged 25 years) is being interviewed for a training position as a commercial pilot. John, her interviewer, while stating that he is impressed with Tessa, then goes on to ask her some further questions related to her personal life, such as whether she has any current plans relating to marriage or having children. Tessa tells John that she does not think his questions are relevant to her being accepted as a trainee pilot. John replies that he is asking these questions to ensure that the company gets an adequate return for the cost of her pilot training course.
- 2. Do you think that John’s behaviour is appropriate or inappropriate? Justify your opinion.
Scenario 3: Harry works at a restaurant and is regularly rostered on for late-night shifts on Fridays. Harry requested to swap his shifts for an earlier time of Friday so he can attend his synagogue for Shabbat. His employer responded by telling him all employees must work the shifts they have been rostered, even though Harry knows that there are other employees who could swap shifts with him.
- 3. Classify the situation above as either indirect or direct discrimination. Justify your response.
Any employee, whether employed on a permanent (full-time or part-time) or casual basis, on probation, as an apprentice or trainee, or on a fixed-term contract, who feels that they have been unlawfully discriminated against in their employment is able to lodge a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman. In the event of the action being proven, there are a number of remedies and penalties that can be imposed. For instance, the employer may be ordered to pay compensation. The maximum amount is $10 200 per contravention performed by an individual and $51 000 per contravention for a company.
The Fair Work Ombudsman does not have jurisdiction to look into all unlawful discrimination complaints. The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), established in 1986 by the Australian government, is an independent statutory organisation that works to protect and promote the human rights of all people in Australia. Anyone who believes they have been subjected to any form of discrimination in areas such as education, sport and the provision of goods, services and facilities is encouraged to contact the AHRC for advice and, if necessary, to lodge a complaint. The AHRC will look into the alleged discriminatory issue and try to resolve the matter through the process of conciliation. There is a range of remedies resulting from conciliation: issuing an apology, paying compensation or introducing to staff anti-discrimination training are examples.
Employment and unemployment – how are they defined?
The federal government of Australia adopts a very specific approach when it measures the employment and unemployment levels in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) uses the following definition of employed to describe people (over the age of 15 years) who, during the reference week:
- • worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (comprising employees, employers and own account workers); or
- • worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers); or
- • were employees who had a job but were not at work and were:
- away from work for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week; or
- away from work for more than four weeks up to the end of the reference week and received pay for some or all of the four weeks up to the end of the reference week; or
- away from work as a standard work or shift arrangement; or
- on strike or lock out; or
- on workers’ compensation and expected to return to their job; or
- • were employers or own account workers, who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.
The ABS definition of unemployed is ‘persons aged 15 years and over who were not employed during the reference week’ and:
- • had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week and were available for work in the reference week, or
- • were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then (future job starters).
Australia’s unemployment rate at February 2014 was 6%.
The federal government provides assistance to workers unable to find employment. This assistance is in a variety of forms:
- The Newstart Allowance is available if a person is aged between 22 years and age pension age, looking for paid work and prepared to meet the activity test while looking for work. In addition, an income and assets test is also applied.
- The Youth Allowance is available for people aged 16 to 24 years who are studying full-time, undertaking a full-time Australian apprenticeship, training or looking for work.
These schemes are administered by Centrelink, which operates as part of the federal Department of Human Services, responsible for delivering social and health-related payments and services.