The 2022 Australian Federal Election results and what this means for industrial relations

Whether the new Labor government will govern in majority or some sort of minority supported by the minor parties remains unknown at this stage.  But recent press has shown at least a willingness for Prime Minister Albanese to push for the following initiatives:

1. government support for a 5.1% rise to the minimum wage - promising to make submissions to the FWC minimum wage panel as a response to inflation, matching the most recent CPI rise;

2. ‘rebalancing’ Fair Work Commission appointments;

3. terminating all pre-Fair Work Act2009 and workchoices agreements;

4. promote good faith bargaining by developing guidelines and including greater disclosure requirements;

5. changing the definition of casual employment to be a ‘fairer, more objective test’ not predominantly focusing on the ‘offer document’;

6. introducing limits to the number of consecutive fixed term contracts an employer can offer an employee – once the limit is reached, the employer will likely be required to convert the employment to permanent and ongoing;

7. give FWC the power to deal with ‘employee-like’ work to give more protection to ‘gig economy’ workers;

8. abolition of the ABCC and ROC; and

9. establish ‘same job, same pay’ rules – meaning that workers employed through labour hire businesses are not treated less favourably compared to paid employees of the host performing the same duties and hours.

How likely is it that these things will occur? It’s hard to say. While some of these changes can happen administratively, many will require legislative change.

Employers should be alert to these potential changes and be ready to make their own adjustments. Significantly, employers should start to consider:

1. would the introduction of ‘same job, same pay’ rules impact the feasibility and operational justification for using labour hire? This might require changes to labour/ operating models.

2. whether there are any operative pre-Fair Work agreements still in place. If so, employers will need to consider how the relevant award will apply, or whether it will be more viable to negotiate an enterprise agreement now under the current system.

3. reviewing operating models and engagement processes to ensure that there is no confusion between which workers are employees and which are contractors. This includes making sure the day to day interactions of the workers remain consistent with contractual terms.

Stay tuned for more Edge updates in this space.

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