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114-738: WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard government in 2005 , being amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 by the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 , sometimes referred to as the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005 , that came into effect on 27 March 2006. In May 2005, Prime Minister John Howard informed

228-617: A "SkyChannel" meeting of union delegates and members organised by Unions NSW . The meeting was followed by a large rally in Sydney and events in regional areas. Individual state governments also opposed the changes. For example, the Victorian Government introduced the Victorian Workplace Rights Advocate as a form of political resistance to the changes. WorkChoices was a major issue in the 2007 federal election , with

342-456: A biography of John Howard said he pushed the WorkChoices legislation through in 2006 so it would not be announced in an election year, and that several cabinet ministers expressed concerns that the legislation would disadvantage too many workers. The ACTU's media campaign triggered a government counter-campaign promoting the reforms. Stage one of the government campaign preceded the release of

456-424: A business that had more than 100 employees, and served a qualifying period of 6 months to claim unfair dismissal. Other reasons that excluded an employee from taking unfair dismissal action included where an employee was employed on a seasonal basis or on a contract of employment for a specified period or task, employed on a probationary period that was reasonable and determined in advance, a short-term casual employee,

570-503: A close and in anticipation of a renewal of labour–management conflict after the war, there was a wave of creations of new academic institutes and degree programs that sought to analyse such conflicts and the role of collective bargaining. The most known of these was the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations , founded in 1945. But counting various forms, there were over seventy-five others. These included

684-833: A federal award, or were not incorporated and trading, financial or foreign organisations. Employers that remained in the State systems included sole traders, partnerships, incorporated associations which are not "trading and financial corporations" and state government bodies. Court decisions may be required to establish whether an organisation falls under this definition; areas of contention include local government and incorporated associations that undertake some trading activities, such as not-for-profit organisations. There have been several test cases in state and federal jurisdictions, including Bysterveld v Shire of Cue and Bankstown Handicapped Children's Centre Association Inc v Hillman . The general principles established by this case and similar cases since

798-585: A fraction of the submissions were heard—with the submissions of State and Territory Industrial Relations Ministers and representatives. The representatives were each allowed only seven minutes to address the Inquiry, during which they criticised the package as being unconstitutional and undermining the rights and conditions of workers. The Bill was passed, with amendments, by the Senate, by a vote of 35–33 on 2 December 2005. The Bill received Royal Assent on 14 December and

912-523: A job. The example of "Billy" was used in material supporting the Government's position. Unions and other groups opposed to WorkChoices claimed that Billy was a perfect example of why the new laws were unfair and would lead to bosses exploiting their workers. [1] In response to widespread criticism, the government introduced a fairness test to replace the standard. However, the legislation was not retrospective and so did not apply to agreements created between

1026-605: A limited power to allow the enactment of the Criminal Code Amendment (Terrorism) Act 2003 (Cth). The referral required that the act not be amended without consultation with the states. In 2009, the National Consumer Credit Protection Act (Cth) transfers regulatory responsibility for credit from the states and territories to the Commonwealth. This is a wide-reaching reform of the regulation of

1140-455: A marriage which has a recognised legal status in the Constitution and is also internationally recognised, the legal status of a de facto relationship and a 'de facto financial cause' can only be applied within a participating State due to the limitations of section 51 (xxxvii) where it states the law shall extend only to States by whose Parliaments the matter is referred, or which afterward adopt

1254-529: A service known as "Fair Work Australia" would be created. Kevin Rudd used part of the 2007 election debate to argue that the Liberal Party was being influenced by the H. R. Nicholls Society to make further reforms to industrial relations, citing Nick Minchin 's attendance to last year's H. R. Nicholls Society conference, where he told the audience that the coalition knew its reform to WorkChoices were not popular but

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1368-506: A trainee engaged for a specific period, or an employee not employed under an award or workplace agreement and earning more than $ 101,300 per year. Significantly, the Act also excluded employees who were dismissed for "genuine operational reasons or reasons including genuine operational reasons". "Genuine operational reasons" were defined in the Act as "reasons of an economic, technological, structural or similar nature." Interpretation of this clause by

1482-435: A twelve-month probationary period. Restrictive right of entry rules in to workplaces for unions introduced under WorkChoices were to remain and secret ballots (rather than open ballots) to decide on carrying out strikes were to continue, which would become banned except during periods of collective bargaining. The dismantling of the group of industrial relations bodies created by the government would also occur, and in their place

1596-526: Is a field of study that can have different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. In an international context, it is a subfield of labor history that studies the human relations with regard to work in its broadest sense and how this connects to questions of social inequality . It explicitly encompasses unregulated, historical, and non-Western forms of labor. Here, labor relations define "for or with whom one works and under what rules. These rules (implicit or explicit, written or unwritten) determine

1710-412: Is controversial. Industrial relations examines various employment situations, not just ones with a unionized workforce. However, according to Bruce E. Kaufman, "To a large degree, most scholars regard trade unionism , collective bargaining and labour– management relations, and the national labour policy and labour law within which they are embedded, as the core subjects of the field." Initiated in

1824-563: Is frequently a matter of contention in family law cases that reach litigation, this limitation is important in that it establishes a split system and creates bureaucratic hurdles. The referral also did not refer to property matters arising at the end of de facto relationships. As a result, maintenance orders are made in the Family Court and property settlements in state courts, although the matters may be inter-related. In 2003 Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales referred financial settlements to

1938-560: Is frequently a subarea within human resource management . Courses in labor relations typically cover labor history, labor law, union organizing, bargaining, contract administration, and important contemporary topics. Section 51(xxxvii) of the Australian Constitution In practice, the referral power has been quite important in allowing the Commonwealth to enact legislation. Section 51(xxxvii) grants power regarding: Uncertain issues concern: Chief Justice French of

2052-514: Is not comprehensive. Rather, this article intends to highlight some significant examples of referral of powers and demonstrate how and why the power is used. The Australian Constitution confers legislative power to the Commonwealth over marriage (Section 51(xxi)) and matrimonial causes (Section 51xxii)). The Australian Commonwealth created the Family Court of Australia as a specialist court dealing with divorce, including custody of children. However,

2166-600: Is seen as a natural part of the employment relationship. Industrial relations scholars therefore frequently study the diverse institutional arrangements that characterize and shape the employment relationship—from norms and power structures on the shop floor, to employee voice mechanisms in the workplace, to collective bargaining arrangements at company, regional, or national level, to various levels of public policy and labour law regimes, to varieties of capitalism (such as corporatism , social democracy , and neoliberalism ). When labour markets are seen as imperfect, and when

2280-491: Is supported by paragraphs 51(xxi) and (xxii) of the Constitution, whereas the power to legislate for de facto financial matters relies on referrals by States to the Commonwealth in accordance with paragraph 51(xxxvii) of the Constitution. A special cause was created called a 'de facto financial cause' see the Family Law Amendment (De Facto Financial Matters and Other Measures) Bill 2008 Explanatory Memorandum However,

2394-480: Is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees , labor/trade unions , employer organizations , and the state . The newer name, "Employment Relations" is increasingly taking precedence because "industrial relations" is often seen to have relatively narrow connotations. Nevertheless, industrial relations has frequently been concerned with employment relationships in

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2508-608: Is therefore shrinking, while fields such as human resource management and organizational behaviour grow. The importance of this work, however, is stronger than ever, and the lessons of industrial relations remain vital. The challenge for industrial relations is to re-establish these connections with the broader academic, policy, and business worlds. Industrial relations scholars such as Alan Fox have described three major theoretical perspectives or frameworks, that contrast in their understanding and analysis of workplace relations. The three views are generally known as unitarism, pluralism, and

2622-421: Is when the Commonwealth dictates state policy direction by granting funding to the states under section 96 of the constitution subject to the 'terms and conditions' that a certain policy be implemented. As with mirror legislation, the enacting legislation is state legislation and based on state legislative power, although the grant is made by the Commonwealth. Tied grants have often been 'forced' upon states due to

2736-427: The Workplace Relations Act 1996 , to apply to Victorian industrial relations. The Workplace Relations Act would otherwise have been limited in operation by Section 51(xx) of the Constitution of Australia (the corporations power) and Section 51(xxxv) of the Constitution of Australia (the conciliation and arbitration power). No other state followed Victoria's lead and the question of referral mostly disappeared with

2850-746: The 2004 federal election , the Liberal – National coalition held a majority in both houses of parliament, and amendments were introduced into the House of Representatives on 2 November 2005. A senate inquiry was held into the Bill from 14 November 2005 to 22 November 2005. The length of this was criticised by the Opposition as being too short. A survey by the Workplace Authority found that although most AWAs ( Australian workplace agreement ) removed some leave loadings, this

2964-432: The 2007 federal election , it retained a federal rather than states-based system. Additionally, it planned to phase out Australian workplace agreements (AWAs) over a period of years with a preference of collective agreements and awards with an exclusion to those earning over $ 100,000. Unfair dismissal laws were to be restored to all businesses; however, employees joining companies with under 15 employees will be placed under

3078-461: The Australian Council of Trade Unions , ran a very effective media campaign attacking the proposed changes, and alternate models were proposed by the centre-left Australian Labor Party (ALP), who won the subsequent election in a landslide. The Liberal (center-right) Government at that time used federal funds to produce and air an advertising campaign promoting WorkChoices, a decision that which

3192-688: The Australian House of Representatives that the federal government intended to reform Australian industrial relations laws by introducing a unified national system. WorkChoices was ostensibly designed to improve employment levels and national economic performance by dispensing with unfair dismissal laws for companies under a certain size, removing the "no disadvantage test" which had sought to ensure workers were not left disadvantaged by changes in legislation, thereby promoting individual efficiency and requiring workers to submit their certified agreements directly to Workplace Authority rather than going through

3306-487: The Australian Industrial Relations Commission . It also made adjustments to a workforce's ability to legally go on strike, enabling workers to bargain for conditions without collectivised representation, and significantly restricting trade union activity. The passing and implementation of the new laws was strongly opposed by the left side of politics, particularly the trade union movement . It

3420-640: The Australian Labor Party (ALP) led by Kevin Rudd vowing to abolish it. Labor won government at the 2007 election and repealed the whole of the WorkChoices legislation and replaced it with the Fair Work Act 2009 . WorkChoices made a number of significant changes to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 , including: Before the commencement of WorkChoices the Commonwealth relied on the conciliation and arbitration power ( section 51(xxxv) of

3534-662: The Family Law Act . Participating States and territories are: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Norfolk Island, Christmas Island or the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. These States referred de facto matters under section 51(xxxvii) of the Constitution of Australia. The Commonwealth power to legislate for marriage and 'matrimonial causes'

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3648-536: The High Court of Australia in a speech on the Australian constitution commented: Justice Kirby commenting on the case of Thomas v Mowbray in regard to States referring anti terrorism laws justified a narrow reading of the referral due to the 'principle of legality' - The interpretative presumption that legislation is not intended to curtail common law rights or contravene international human rights standards. There

3762-459: The Incorporation Case (1990), the High Court held that "formed" related to corporations only after their creation and so did not support legislation prescribing incorporation processes. To that extent, the act was invalid. The Commonwealth then obtained power to legislate with respect to incorporation processes by persuading the states to refer their powers over incorporation processes to

3876-408: The WorkChoices coming into force, certified agreements, subsequently called Collective Agreements (CAs) and individual Australian workplace agreements (AWAs), had to pass a No Disadvantage Test. This test compared a proposed agreement to an underpinning and relevant award that had or should have covered employees up until the proposal for an agreement. The No Disadvantage Test weighed the benefits of

3990-542: The WorkChoices system. Other constitutional powers used by the federal government to extend the scope of the legislation included the territories power to cover the Australian territories, including the external territories of the Christmas and Cocos Islands, the external affairs power , the interstate and overseas trade and commerce power , and the powers of the Commonwealth to legislate for its own employees. Victoria had voluntarily referred its industrial relations powers to

4104-708: The Yale Labor and Management Center , directed by E. Wight Bakke , which began in 1945. An influential industrial relations scholar in the 1940s and 1950s was Neil W. Chamberlain at Yale and Columbia universities. In the 1950s, industrial relations was formalized as a distinct academic discipline with the emergence in the UK of the so-called "Oxford school", including Allan Flanders , Hugh Clegg , and Alan Fox , Lord William McCarthy , Sir George Bain (all of whom taught at Nuffield College, Oxford ), as well as Otto Kahn-Freund ( Brasenose College, Oxford ). Industrial relations

4218-499: The "old Soviet system of command and control", as well as on federalist grounds saying "This attempt on his part to diminish the role of the states, to concentrate all power in Canberra, is very much to Australia's detriment". Society President Ray Evans stated that in creating WorkChoices " John Howard has assumed an omnipotence that Labor will inherit and to which no mortal should aspire. It will end in tears." Des Moore stated on behalf of

4332-511: The ACTU attacked the advertising campaign, with ACTU President Sharan Burrow describing the advertisements as deceitful party-political advertising funded through taxes. The Government argued that such expenditure is normal procedure when introducing radical change, citing the example of the GST advertising. However, that advertising was severely criticised at the time, and for the same reasons. The expenditure

4446-516: The AIRC had created precedent for a broad application of this section of the Act. In Carter v Village Cinemas , the Full Bench of the AIRC decided upon appeal that an operational reason need only be a reason for dismissal, not the sole or dominant reason for dismissal. In another significant decision, Andrew Cruickshank v Priceline Pty Ltd , Mr Cruickshank was employed at Priceline on a package of $ 101,150. He

4560-596: The AIRC. Only when the conciliation was unsuccessful and a conciliation certificate issued could the claim proceed to the next step. For unfair dismissal claims, the claim proceeded to arbitration by the AIRC, where a Member of the Commission could issue a binding decision. For unlawful termination claims, the claim proceeded to a court with appropriate jurisdiction such as the Federal Court or the Industrial Division of

4674-425: The Act, employees, other than excluded employees (including casual employees with less than 12 months' regular ongoing service, apprentices) were required to be given a specified period of notice of termination or payment in lieu of this notice. Where this was not provided to an employee, an unlawful termination application could have been lodged. In certain circumstances where a business terminates 15 or more employees,

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4788-507: The Commonwealth in 1996, under section 51(xxxvii) of the Constitution . While one of the purposes of these changes was to provide a single national industrial relations system, in practice, each of the States' systems (except Victoria and the territories) remained in force. State industrial relations systems continued to apply to employers that were not covered by federal agreements (Australian workplace agreements or collective agreements), bound to

4902-582: The Commonwealth". On the basis of this power, in 1989 the Commonwealth enacted comprehensive legislation on corporations in Australia, the Corporations Act 1989 (Cth). The Act covered not only corporations already in existence but also processes of incorporation. Having different sets of rules in each jurisdiction for the establishment of companies, and different registers for the existence of companies, created red-tape and legal hurdles for business. However, in

5016-422: The Commonwealth. However, the issue remains unresolved in relation to other states. Western Australia has not referred powers, and has its own specialist court, the Family Court of Western Australia . From 1 March 2009 a new section in the Family Law Act 1975 has limited jurisdiction over de facto relationships that have a geographical connection with a participating State, sections 90RG , 90SD and 90SK of

5130-595: The Commonwealth. The current Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) is supported by the combination of the corporations power with this referral of power. The referral also allowed the passage of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth). In 1996 Victoria referred certain industrial relations matters to the Commonwealth, in the Commonwealth Powers (Industrial Relations Act) 1996 (Vic). This allowed Commonwealth industrial relations law,

5244-611: The Constitution ) which provides that the Commonwealth may make laws with respect to "conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State". The Howard government sought to bring as many employees under WorkChoices as was within its constitutional powers. It relied on the corporations power ( Section 51(xx) of the Constitution of Australia ) extending its coverage to an estimated 85% of Australian employees. All employees of "constitutional corporations" (i.e. trading, financial, and foreign corporations) became covered by

5358-551: The Federal Magistrates Court. Prior to WorkChoices , unfair dismissal protections existed in awards or through state industrial relation commissions. The changes to dismissal laws was part of WorkChoices which reduced the protections of previous unfair dismissal laws, which were introduced at a federal level by the Labor government of Paul Keating in 1993. The arguments for these changes related to creating jobs by removing

5472-500: The Rights at Work website supporters included raising $ 50,000 in five working days to erect a billboard on Melbourne's Tullamarine Freeway raising awareness of WorkChoices . The online campaigns also targeted employers, like Darrell Lea CEO John Tolmie. In April, Mr Tolmie bowed to pressure and halted plans to shift his workforce onto AWA individual contracts after 10,000 Rights at Work supporters emailed him asking him to reconsider. At

5586-523: The Society that "The HR Nicholls Society is very disappointed with the work choices changes." Howard's successor as leader of the Liberal Party, Brendan Nelson declared that his party has "listened and learned" from the Australian public. He also declared that WorkChoices was "dead" and would never be resurrected as part of Coalition policy, and called on Rudd to move quickly to introduce draft industrial relations legislation. Former IR minister Joe Hockey said

5700-563: The Speaker (and later the Deputy Speaker) to remove 11 of them. On the same day, the Senate referred the Bill to its Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Committee. The committee allowed five days for submissions to be made to the committee, with the closing date being 9 November 2005. Five days of hearings were scheduled to be held at Parliament House in Canberra commencing 14 November with

5814-574: The Taskforce traveled to every state and territory in Australia, convening meetings with individuals, employers, church and community groups and trade unions, collecting testimony in order to inform federal Labor's policy response and to publicise instances of actual exploitation. An interim report, "WorkChoices: A Race to the Bottom" was launched by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley at Parliament House, Canberra on 20 June 2006, and widely distributed. WorkChoices

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5928-567: The United States at end of the 19th century, it took off as a field in conjunction with the New Deal . However, it is generally regarded as a separate field of study only in English-speaking countries, having no direct equivalent in continental Europe. In recent times, industrial relations has been in decline as a field, in correlation with the decline in importance of trade unions and also with

6042-463: The WorkChoices legislation for creating even more regulation. The Society, which in fact supports deregulation of the labour market to the extent that employers and employees simply form contracts with each other and then deal with any disputes via the courts, admonished the WorkChoices model particularly for its length and the amount of red tape, claiming it was "all about regulation" and comparing it to

6156-931: The Workplace Authority, conducted a survey ending in September 2006 which showed the following results with respect to 'protected' conditions lost in WorkChoices legislation: of all AWAs sampled, 88 per cent abolished or 'modified' overtime rates; 89 per cent of AWAs either abolished or 'modified' shiftwork loading; 91 per cent abolished or 'modified' monetary allowances; 85 per cent abolished or 'modified incentive payments; 82 per cent abolished or 'modified' public holiday payments; and 83 per cent abolished or 'modified' rest breaks. In each of these cases conditions were more often abolished than modified, and all modifications represented decreases in conditions. Lastly, though 66 per cent of AWAs resulted in wage increases, 52 per cent of these increases were unquantified or not guaranteed. The Workplace Relations Amendment (WorkChoices) Bill 2005 (Cth)

6270-672: The agreement certification process to the Workplace Authority , which had some of its other powers of investigation transferred to the Workplace Ombudsman . Now instead of appearing before a Commissioner at the AIRC, parties to a collective agreement were only required to lodge the agreement with the Workplace Authority. This new process was criticised by those opposed to WorkChoices as they believed that it would give unions less opportunity to scrutinise and intervene where they believed an agreement had been unfairly drafted. However,

6384-480: The award against the proposed agreement to ensure that, overall, employees were no worse off. WorkChoices required that employers provide employees with five minimum entitlements, which covered maximum ordinary working hours, annual leave, parental leave, personal/carer's leave and minimum pay scales. These five minimum entitlements were referred to as the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard . However,

6498-531: The bill had been given to the Opposition to read before a vote was held. Employer associations such as the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry had indicated they supported WorkChoices at the time, figures that ran counter to the 50 per cent of employers cited in a 2007 AC Nielsen poll as opposing the measures. The Australian labour movement , represented by

6612-442: The broadest sense, including "non-industrial" employment relationships. This is sometimes seen as paralleling a trend in the separate but related discipline of human resource management . While some scholars regard or treat industrial/employment relations as synonymous with employee relations and labour relations , this is controversial, because of the narrower focus of employee/labour relations, i.e. on employees or labour, from

6726-461: The burden on business of dismissing unsuitable employees. Arguments against the changes included the lack of job security for employees. WorkChoices introduced several restrictions on who was able to lodge an unfair dismissal claim with the AIRC. Unfair dismissal was defined by the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (the Act) as dismissal which is "harsh, unjust or unreasonable." Employees had to be working for

6840-503: The business needed to give written notice to a body prescribed by the Workplace Relations Regulations 2006 , currently Centrelink. Prohibited reasons for termination included discriminatory reasons such as age, race, national extraction, political opinion, sex, sexual preference, religion, marital status, disability, pregnancy and family responsibilities; refusal to sign an Australian workplace agreement (AWA) (however, it

6954-462: The challenge, upholding the Government's use of the constitutional corporations power as a constitutionally valid basis for the WorkChoices reforms. When it was tabled in the Parliament, there was significant concerns from civil libertarians and the Opposition that the Bill was passed far too quickly for those voting on it to actually read the document closely, and that insufficient physical copies of

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7068-532: The commencement of the WorkChoices reforms every state and territory of Australia had a Labor government. The States lodged a challenge to the Constitutional validity of WorkChoices in the High Court of Australia . Various union groups also lodged their own challenge in the High Court. The High Court heard arguments between 4 May 2006 and 11 May 2006. On 14 November 2006 the High Court, by a 5 to 2 majority, rejected

7182-423: The committee reporting to the Senate on 22 November. The decision to have a rather short inquiry was criticised by Labor, who claimed that it was an attempt by the Government to avoid proper scrutiny of the Bill. By 9 November, the Senate committee had received more than 4,500 submissions, of which only 173 were published on its website. The committee did not individually acknowledge and publish all submissions, due to

7296-500: The consumer credit in Australia. Previously, consumer credit was regulated at state level amongst each of the states but it was agreed at a COAG meeting that this area of the law should be reformed as a result of the 2007–2008 financial crisis and on a constitutional level, this was made possible because of the referral power. In 1992, the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 was enacted and it allowed for mutual recognition between

7410-412: The custody of children born outside of a marriage was outside of the Commonwealth's jurisdiction. As a result, these matters had to be litigated in non-specialist state courts. Between 1986 and 1990 all states, except for Western Australia, referred the custody, maintenance, and access of ex-nuptial children to the Commonwealth. This referral excluded child welfare matters. Given that abuse of children

7524-423: The day-to-day operations. Consequently, the role of management would lean less towards enforcing and controlling and more toward persuasion and coordination. Trade unions are deemed legitimate representatives of employees, conflict is resolved through collective bargaining and is viewed not necessarily as a bad thing and, if managed, could, in fact, be channeled towards evolution and positive change. In unitarism,

7638-431: The definitions of 'matrimonial cause' and 'de facto financial cause' differ in some respects, due to the different sources of Commonwealth power to legislate for these matters. Paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of 'de facto financial cause', in the Family Law Act 1975 therefore, limit the proceedings within each of those paragraphs to proceedings taken once the relevant de facto relationship has broken down. Unlike

7752-521: The emphasis on mediation and conciliation. It also reduced the timeframe within which employees were able to lodge such claims; claims had to be lodged within 21 days from the date of termination. Employees could apply for an extension of this timeframe, but a review of published decisions shows that extensions were infrequently granted. Fees applied for applications, at one time $ 55.70. Both unfair dismissal and unlawful termination claims went through an initial hearing and compulsory conciliation conference at

7866-624: The employment relationship as a mixture of shared interests and conflicts of interests that are largely limited to the employment relationship. In the workplace, pluralists, therefore, champion grievance procedures, employee voice mechanisms such as works councils and trade unions , collective bargaining, and labour–management partnerships. In the policy arena, pluralists advocate for minimum wage laws, occupational health and safety standards, international labour standards , and other employment and labour laws and public policies. These institutional interventions are all seen as methods for balancing

7980-514: The employment relationship includes conflicts of interest, then one cannot rely on markets or managers to always serve workers' interests, and in extreme cases to prevent worker exploitation. Industrial relations scholars and practitioners, therefore, support institutional interventions to improve the workings of the employment relationship and to protect workers' rights. The nature of these institutional interventions, however, differ between two camps within industrial relations. The pluralist camp sees

8094-518: The employment relationship to generate not only economic efficiency but also employee equity and voice. In contrast, the Marxist -inspired critical camp sees employer–employee conflicts of interest as sharply antagonistic and deeply embedded in the socio-political-economic system. From this perspective, the pursuit of a balanced employment relationship gives too much weight to employers' interests, and instead deep-seated structural reforms are needed to change

8208-495: The establishment of a largely national regime of workplace relations through the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 (Cth) . Although Section 51(vi) of the Constitution of Australia (the defence power) empowers the Commonwealth to legislate on military matters, it is considered unlikely that this power extends to the making of laws relating to internal security. In 2002–2003, all states referred

8322-610: The first academic industrial relations program at the University of Wisconsin in 1920. Another scholarly pioneer in industrial relations and labour research was Robert F. Hoxie . Early financial support for the field came from John D. Rockefeller Jr. who supported progressive labour–management relations in the aftermath of the bloody strike at a Rockefeller-owned coal mine in Colorado . In Britain, another progressive industrialist, Montague Burton , endowed chairs in industrial relations at

8436-465: The government stated in response that the intention of this part of the Act was to improve the turn-around time for agreement certification. In addition, the newly amended Act provided for substantial penalties upon employers, employees and unions where a collective agreement did not comply with the new regulations or included prohibited content. The Office of the Employment Advocate, now known as

8550-523: The inception of the original WorkChoices legislation on 27 March 2006 and when the Fairness Test became operative on 7 May 2007. Previously, certified agreements, which were collective agreements about employment entitlements and obligations, made by an employer directly with employees or with unions, had to be lodged and certified in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). The new legislated changes transferred responsibility for overseeing

8664-1124: The increasing preference of business schools for the human resource management paradigm . Industrial relations has three faces: science building, problem solving, and ethical. In the science building phase, industrial relations is part of the social sciences , and it seeks to understand the employment relationship and its institutions through high-quality, rigorous research. In this vein, industrial relations scholarship intersects with scholarship in labour economics , industrial sociology , labour and social history , human resource management , political science , law , and other areas. Industrial relations scholarship assumes that labour markets are not perfectly competitive and thus, in contrast to mainstream economic theory , employers typically have greater bargaining power than employees. Industrial relations scholarship also assumes that there are at least some inherent conflicts of interest between employers and employees (for example, higher wages versus higher profits) and thus, in contrast to scholarship in human resource management and organizational behaviour , conflict

8778-545: The industrial relations changes. A second national day of protest was held across Australia on 30 November 2006 with rallies or meetings in about 300 sites nationwide. At the MCG the entertainment included Jimmy Barnes and the crowd was addressed by such speakers as the leader of the opposition Kim Beazley . Estimates for the Melbourne crowd ranged from 45,000 to 65,000 people at the MCG and

8892-564: The introduction of WorkChoices were that the types of activities carried out by an individual organisation and the extent and value of these activities must be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the activities are considered substantially "trading and financial". WorkChoices contained provisions relating to both unfair dismissal and unlawful termination, which are separate matters. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) retained some of its role in hearing unfair dismissal and unlawful termination cases, but increased

9006-421: The jibe from critics and commentators alike that the policy was one that dare not speak its name , an allusion to the euphemism coined by Lord Alfred Douglas for homosexuality . Another notable curiosity was the continuation of the website. Kevin Rudd took over the Australian Labor Party leadership on 4 December 2006, and in the process reaffirming his opposition to WorkChoices. As Labor won government at

9120-550: The large number of submissions, at least partially resulting from the ACTU campaign against WorkChoices , which included setting up a form on its website by which people could make a submission. The Bill passed through the House of Representatives on 10 November and was introduced into the Senate later that day by Special Minister of State, Senator Eric Abetz . On 14 November the Senate Inquiry began its five-day hearing—in which only

9234-452: The law. To explain further, the unmarried couple do not take the State with them when they move out of the State and the de facto legal status cannot exist outside of a participating State. Thus, the unmarried couple's relationship is then covered by the countries laws on unmarried relationships of where they are ordinarily resident. To otherwise interpret the legislation would be to override the Australian constitution due to limitations on how

9348-595: The laws "went too deep" but were introduced with "the best intentions". "As I said yesterday and I've said since election day, WorkChoices is dead, and there is an overwhelming mandate for the Labor Party's policy of tearing up WorkChoices," he said. Former Prime Minister John Howard broke his post-election silence in March 2008 by attacking Rudd's industrial relations policy while defending WorkChoices. Industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations

9462-415: The legislation and cost approximately $ 46 million, including advertisements from both the government and the Business Council of Australia , information booklets and a hotline. Government polling of the period August 2005 to February 2006, not released until March 2008, revealed that the government's advertising campaign failed to make workers less apprehensive about WorkChoices . The ALP, minor parties and

9576-506: The loyalty between employees and organizations are considered mutually exclusive, and there cannot be two sides of industry. Conflict is perceived as destructive and the result of poor management. This view of industrial relations looks at the nature of the capitalist society, where there is a fundamental division of interest between capital and labour, and sees workplace relations against this background. This perspective sees inequalities of power and economic wealth as having their roots in

9690-627: The march to Federation Square. In other cities, an estimated 40,000 people attended a similar rally in Sydney, 20,000 in Brisbane, 7,000 in Adelaide, 3,000 in Perth, 2,000 in Darwin, and 1,000 in Canberra. As part of its campaign against WorkChoices , the ACTU set up the "Your Rights at Work" campaign website, with more than 170,000 people signing up to receive updates about the campaign and the e-list also being part of

9804-541: The nature of the capitalist economic system. Conflict is therefore seen as a natural outcome of capitalism, thus it is inevitable and trade unions are a natural response of workers to their exploitation by capital. Whilst there may be periods of acquiescence, the Marxist view would be that institutions of joint regulation would enhance rather than limit management's position as they presume the continuation of capitalism rather than challenge it. Labor relations or labor studies

9918-517: The online campaign actions. One of the most well-supported campaigns was "Take a Stand Barnaby!", petitioning National Party of Australia Senator Barnaby Joyce to act on his concerns about WorkChoices and vote against them in the Senate in November 2005. Ultimately unsuccessful, the petition received 85,189 signatures, thought by the ACTU to be a record for an Australian online petition at that time. Other internet activism campaigns undertaken by

10032-417: The organization is perceived as an integrated and harmonious whole with the idea of "one happy family" in which management and other members of the staff all share a common purpose by emphasizing mutual co-operation. Furthermore, unitarism has a paternalistic approach: it demands loyalty of all employees and is managerial in its emphasis and application. Consequently, trade unions are deemed unnecessary since

10146-460: The organization is perceived as being made up of powerful and divergent sub-groups, each with its own legitimate interests and loyalties and with their own set of objectives and leaders. In particular, the two predominant sub-groups in the pluralist perspective are the management and trade unions. The pluralist perspective also supports that conflict is inherent in dealing with industrial relations since different sub-groups have different opinions in

10260-541: The parts concerning the Australian Fair Pay Commission, wages for school based trainees and apprentices, and redundancy pay for small employers came into force immediately from that date. The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations released the first set of regulations for the Bill on 17 March 2006 and following that the complete Act was proclaimed by Australia's Governor-General Michael Jeffery . The Act commenced on 27 March 2006. In July 2007,

10374-406: The perspective of employers, managers and/or officials. In addition, employee relations is often perceived as dealing only with non-unionized workers, whereas labour relations is seen as dealing with organized labour , i.e unionized workers. Some academics, universities and other institutions regard human resource management as synonymous with one or more of the above disciplines, although this too

10488-405: The power was derived from State power and the international human rights on the right for self-determination and to choose status, see Articles 1 and 2 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . The corporations power , Constitution s 51(xx), empowers the Commonwealth to legislate with respect to "foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of

10602-594: The practice of 'mirror legislation'. Mirror legislation occurs when state parliaments enact identical legislation to achieve consistency across the states. Such legislation may be led by the Commonwealth, perhaps through framework legislation of its own. Nonetheless, the mirror legislation itself is state legislation, based on state powers. Mirror legislation may be preferred by the states as it gives them control over subsequent repeal and amendment. However, this can introduce inconsistencies when different amendments are subsequently made in different jurisdictions. A 'tied grant'

10716-577: The process of change must continue, and that "there is still a long way to go ... awards, the IR commission, all the rest of it". The Australian Labor Party stated that "We know the HR Nicholls society supports the abolition of awards, supports the abolition of the minimum wage, supports the abolition of the independent umpire, the Industrial Relations Commission". In 2007, the Society criticised

10830-525: The radical or critical school. Each offers a particular perception of workplace relations and will, therefore, interpret such events as workplace conflict, the role of unions and job regulation differently. The perspective of the critical school is sometimes referred to as the conflict model , although this is somewhat ambiguous, as pluralism also tends to see conflict as inherent in workplaces. Radical theories are strongly identified with Marxist theories , although they are not limited to these. In pluralism,

10944-664: The sharply antagonistic employment relationship that is inherent within capitalism. Militant trade unions are thus frequently supported. Industrial relations has its roots in the Industrial Revolution which created the modern employment relationship by spawning free labour markets and large-scale industrial organizations with thousands of wage workers. As society wrestled with these massive economic and social changes, labour problems arose. Low wages, long working hours, monotonous and dangerous work, and abusive supervisory practices led to high employee turnover, violent strikes , and

11058-547: The standard did not have any bearing on agreements that were certified prior to the commencement of WorkChoices: Notional Agreements Preserving State Awards (NAPSAs) if their conditions were more generous than what is provided for under the standard, those conditions will continue to apply. Those who supported the scrapping of the No Disadvantage Test claimed that it was too complex and argued that its removal would create more opportunities for unemployed people to be offered

11172-424: The threat of social instability. Intellectually, industrial relations was formed at the end of the 19th century as a middle ground between classical economics and Marxism , with Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb 's Industrial Democracy (1897) being a key intellectual work. Industrial relations thus rejected the classical econ. Institutionally, industrial relations was founded by John R. Commons when he created

11286-604: The type of work, type and amount of remuneration, working hours, degrees of physical and psychological strain, as well as the degree of freedom and autonomy associated with the work." More specifically in a North American and strictly modern context, labor relations is the study and practice of managing unionized employment situations. In academia, labor relations is frequently a sub-area within industrial relations, though scholars from many disciplines including economics, sociology, history, law, and political science also study labor unions and labor movements. In practice, labor relations

11400-417: The union and community campaign against the WorkChoices laws. "It has resonated because it has been the most sophisticated and articulate political campaign in the history of this country." The ACTU countered that the name may have changed but the laws were the same. The Government did not rename the brand, but did launch a new advertising campaign that did not refer specifically to WorkChoices. This gave rise to

11514-601: The universities of Leeds , Cardiff , and Cambridge in 1929–1930. Beginning in the early 1930s there was a rapid increase in membership of trade unions in the United States , and with that came frequent and sometimes violent labour–management conflict. During the Second World War these were suppressed by the arbitration powers of the National War Labor Board . However, as the Second World War drew to

11628-432: The various states of certain goods and occupations. It allowed people with certain occupations (e.g. nurse, physician, teacher) to work that occupation in another state with minimal delay or fuss. Likewise, most goods that meet the standards of the state they originated from can be sold in any other state regardless of the specific standards of that state. The referral power in section 51(xxxvii) should not be confused with

11742-424: Was a prominent issue in the defeat of the centre-right Howard Liberal government at the 2007 federal election . The centre-left Rudd Labor government dismantled the legislation in 2008, declaring it "dead". The Australian Government stopped using the name "WorkChoices" to describe its industrial relations changes on 17 May 2007. Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey said the brand had to be dropped due to

11856-455: Was also accompanied by a wage rise in most cases. WorkChoices was passed by the Senate on 2 December 2005. The primary changes came into effect on 27 March 2006. In December 2005, the federal ALP caucus formed an Industrial Relations Taskforce in order to investigate the adverse effects of the legislation, chaired by Brendan O'Connor , with special emphasis on the impact on regional and rural communities, women and young people. During 2006,

11970-409: Was ambivalence on these issues within the constitutional convention itself. The issue of revocability has not been clarified today. This explains why referrals of power are usually very narrow. Referrals usually include in their terms an expiry period, after which a further referral is required. Limitations of time were upheld as valid by the High Court in 1964, although the general issue of revocability

12084-456: Was argued that the laws stripped away basic employee rights and were fundamentally unfair. The ACTU, the peak association for Australian trade unions, consistently ran television advertisements attacking the new laws and launching its "Your Rights at Work" campaign opposing the changes. The campaign involved mass rallies and marches, television and radio advertisements, judicial action, and e-activism. The week of action culminated on 1 July 2005 with

12198-704: Was challenged in the High Court of Australia by the ALP and the ACTU, in Combet v Commonwealth , on the grounds that the expenditure was not approved by Parliament. On 29 September 2005 the High Court rejected this argument in a majority decision. On 15 November 2005, the ACTU organised a national day of protest , during which the ACTU estimated 546,000 people took part in marches and protests in Australia's state capitals and other cities. The rallies were addressed by Labor State Premiers. Other notable Australians, including former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke , also spoke in opposition to

12312-491: Was criticised by the federal opposition and challenged in the High Court. In addition, the state governments of Australia (all of which were Labor at the time) used the High Court to challenge the legality of the Commonwealth using the Corporations power to sidestep the usual parliamentary oversight and implement WorkChoices, but were ruled against. WorkChoices was not a 2004 Liberal party election policy. However, following

12426-564: Was formed with a strong problem-solving orientation that rejected both the classical economists' laissez-faire solutions to labour problems and the Marxist solution of class revolution . It is this approach that underlies the New Deal legislation in the United States, such as the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act . By the early 21st century, the academic field of industrial relations

12540-552: Was introduced into the Australian House of Representatives on 2 November 2005 by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Kevin Andrews . The Australian Labor Party claimed it was not provided with enough copies of the Bill when it entered the House and mounted a campaign against the Bill in the House throughout the day. During Question Time, Opposition members continually interjected while Government members were speaking, leading

12654-495: Was not prohibited to deny employment to a new employee who refuses to sign an AWA); being involved in proceedings against an employer for alleged breach of the law; membership or non-membership of a union or participation in union activities; and absence from work due to illness or injury, parental leave or emergency management activities. Unlike unfair dismissal provisions, there were no restrictions on employees who can lodge unlawful termination claims for prohibited reasons. Prior to

12768-425: Was not resolved. Uncertainty may lead to the use instead of mirror legislation (see below), in which the states retain their legislative power. The issue of exclusivity seems to have been resolved in favour of the concurrent legislative power approach. That is, as with other powers in section 51, states can continue to legislate subject to inconsistency with Commonwealth legislation ( Constitution s 109 ). This list

12882-548: Was often described as being in crisis. In academia, its traditional positions are threatened on one side by the dominance of mainstream economics and organizational behaviour, and on the other by postmodernism . In policy-making circles, the industrial relations emphasis on institutional intervention is trumped by a neoliberal emphasis on the laissez-faire promotion of free markets . In practice, trade unions are declining and fewer companies have industrial relations functions. The number of academic programs in industrial relations

12996-475: Was terminated and Priceline subsequently hired a new employee in the same position on a package of $ 65,000–$ 75,000. Priceline claimed, successfully, that they had not breached the unfair dismissal provisions of the Act, as the dismissal saved the business money, therefore was for a reason including a genuine operational reason. Unlawful termination encompassed several parts; notice of termination, Centrelink notification, and prohibited reasons. Under Section 661 of

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