The national employer association Ai Group and peak industry body The Print and Visual Communication Association (PVCA) have expressed their concerns over the incoming IR legislation for Australia.

PVCA has communicated concerns challenging the legislation in calling on higher employee numbers, clarification to purpose and reducing impact on small business owners, reflecting the industry’s concerns over various components of the Bill.

The PVCA argues that there has not been adequate reasoning or research, to say that the multi-employer bargaining component will bring productivity gains, increased wages, and could be a significant cost on businesses.

“Given the Bill’s Regulatory Impact Statement shows that small business owners may be required to spend at least 4.6 hours every day for up to six months, away from their businesses, negotiating a multi-employer agreement should such bargaining be initiated, and recognising that 95 per cent of print businesses are categorised as ‘small business’, or operating under $2.0 million turnover per annum, PVCA is committed to ensuring our members are well-informed across the new legislation to reduce the possible impact to their businesses,” PVCA CEO Kellie Northwood said.

The Bill has had intensive debate from all sectors with the government, which announced it will accept all the recommended amendments from the Senate, including increasing the number of employees from 15 to 20 who are exempt and the re-definition of the inclusion up to 50 employees, onus of proof to the unions, rather than on businesses.

Additionally, the Minister will be provided specific power to designate an occupation or industry that will be eligible, differing from the single-interest stream outlined above and covering low-paid worker industries. Given the print industry pays well-above the Award rate, this would be unlikely to impact the print industry, according to the PVCA.

There is a third change which sits outside of the scope of these new laws which is an annual review by an independent panel across government support payments, such as for JobSeeker recipients prior to each federal budget being delivered.

“The legislation in its current form is broad and lacks definition in parts, there are still some debates and clarity to be finalised through the Senate this week which should provide some tightening in some areas,” PVCA general manager of IR, policy and governance Charles Watson said.

“We will be watching these debates closely to review the finalised Bill to then be in a position to brief our members with detailed accuracy to our industry. Every business and every site in our industry operates under different costs and revenue arrangements which will present challenges to the omnibus approach of this Bill, however we will prepare our members and further support them throughout the implementation of the legislation.”

Ai Group CEO Innes Willox also agreed that the IR Bill deal fails to address industry concerns.

“The deal between Senator Pocock and the Federal Government means the Australian industry now faces an industrial relations system riddled with conflict, complexity and uncertainty,” Ai Group CEO Innes Willox said.

“The deal as it stands does not remove the core concerns for industry – that businesses can be dragged into a multi enterprise bargaining arrangement based on still vague notions of a ‘common interest’; remain subject to the threat and reality of greater industrial action; and have no clear pathway to extract themselves from a bargaining system that may not suit their circumstances.

“The primacy of the enterprise agreement system which has underpinned much of our economic success over the past four decades has now been shattered. There is nothing in the deal or the legislation that will drive the substantial productivity growth Australia needs to deliver wages growth.

“We now truly face a return to a 1970s industrial model, entirely unsuited to the 21st Century open and productive economy we need. The ramifications of the proposals on employment, investment and business certainty will be far reaching.

“We now face the prospect of more strikes and fewer jobs. There has been no modelling on any economic benefit of the legislation, only the vague hope that employers with an industrial gun to their head will pay more and somehow not pass costs onto consumers or reduce their headcount.”

According to Willox, of the concessions agreed to by the government, there is very little improvement for the vast bulk of Australian businesses.

“They largely amount to tinkering around the edges of what at its heart remains a fundamentally flawed Bill,” he said.

“The change in headcount exemption for small business is almost meaningless. A review of awards has already been dragging on for almost a decade. A two-year review of the legislation, if it is done by the parliament, will undoubtedly find it had been a stunning success regardless of the reality for industry.”

PVCA will be holding an industry briefing seminar on 13 December to provide guidance and critical information across the incoming IR legislation for Australia.

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