The Federal Opposition has this week confirmed that a key element of its 2022 Federal Election industrial relations campaign will centre on labour hire and the theme of “insecure work”.
On Monday 22 November, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese introduced the Fair Work Amendment (Same Job, Same Pay) Bill 2021 in the House of Representatives, which self-describes as “A Bill for an Act to give Australian workers the right to same job, same pay, and for related purposes”.
The Bill introduces an obligation that labour hire businesses provide workers with pay and conditions no less favourable than those provided to employees who are performing the same work directly for the host enterprise.
The Bill also requires employers that engage labour hire providers (host employers) to provide all information necessary to comply with the obligation, not engage with labour hire businesses unless they agree to comply with the obligation and take all reasonable steps to ensure that the obligation is complied with.
Additionally, host employers must ensure that information concerning vacancies is made available to labour hire workers performing work within their enterprises, and provide such labour hire workers with access to the same amenities, collective facilities, training and rights over determination of hours and location of work as direct employees.
‘Nothing but a job killer’ – AREEA CEO
The Opposition has for some time had a policy that labour hire employees be paid not at the agreed rate by their employing entity (the labour hire provider) / or against the award minimum, but at the rate that would be applicable to their work had they been directly employed by the host employer.
Unions and Labor frame this as ‘same job, same pay’. This is a long-standing union priority and was Labor policy at the previous election.
Given that this is a private member’s bill, it is unlikely that the Coalition Government will allow it to reach the stage of a Second Reading Debate or vote in the House of Representatives.
Nevertheless, the Bill gives an indication of the directions and priorities of Labor leading into the election.
In response to the Bill, AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott AM said it was “nothing but a job killer”.
“The ALP’s ‘same job, same pay’ private members’ bill is nothing more than a policy thought bubble perpetuating the myth that well-paid labour hire employees are somehow disadvantaged,” Mr Knott said.
“By suggesting that a labour hire employee engaged to supplement a site’s direct-hired workforce has the same responsibilities, the same qualifications, experience in the industry and history of service with an employer, is clearly absurd.
“Mining industry labour hire enterprise agreements are almost always reached with unions and must be signed off as lawful by the Fair Work Commission. They typically offer well-above award conditions and a strong enough employee value proposition to attract thousands of workers despite the industry experiencing its most competitive labour market in living memory.”
AREEA notes the ALP’s policy is effectively declaring a labour hire employer and their employees should not be allowed to reach their own terms of employment, and that unique individual site EA terms must be applied to temporary contractors who did not negotiate or agree to them.
“There are dozens, if not hundreds of worksites where labour hire employees can provide services should they be required,” Mr Knott continued.
“It’s simply not realistic to expect labour hire arrangements would proceed with such an enormous level of red tape, defeating the purpose of engaging labour hire in the first place – flexibility and choice.
“Without competitive and flexible labour hire services supplementing permanent site workforces, mines would close, jobs would be lost, and state and federal tax and royalty revenues would be foregone.”
To get involved with AREEA’s industrial relations advocacy and pre-election campaigns, contact [email protected] for more information.
