In The Daily Fix, Crikey taps into the wisdom of experts and community leaders to find solutions to problems. This week: wage theft.
We would change the system to make it easier to understand and easier to enforce — similar to the New Zealand system.
The barriers to change are those who make money from complexity. Also wage theft is when it is done on purpose.
The reality of the Australian system is that it is almost impossible to be completely compliant no matter how good your resources and your system. This is shown by the fact that Maurice Blackburn the law firm for unions could not get it right.
Change the rules and make them easy.
Peter Strong is the CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia.
Statistically speaking, if the reason why people are being underpaid is because of the system being too complex shouldn’t there be as many people being overpaid?
And isn’t the tax system more complex than the award system? Yet businesses still seem to navigate that OK.
you got that right. Why aren’t there at least some getting overpaid. +10 from me.
We went from over 4000 State-based awards and separate legislation on leave and entitlements to a Federal system with 122 awards and National Employment Standards. It’s not that hard. It just wants someone who actually cares to check and audit the systems. Now here’s an idea, why don’t we give union officials right of entry to check this stuff?
Yes Mick, numerous IR specialists have debunked the employers claim that the IR system is too complex.
As you cite, We have seen any a massive simplification to combine awards, conditions and job classifications over recent years. This is what employers have been advocating for decades.
The various IR courts have pushed this. Unions advocating, union members and the employers have benefitted with better definitions, less confusion and lower legal costs.
It is an absolute farce for major corporations or peak employer bodies to defend wage theft by claiming it’s all too complex. Once again, our timid media do not attempt to challenge those who make this claim, which is easily dismantled.
Good point. There has to be overpayments as well if the system is the problem, and there are. The Fair Work Ombudsman doesn’t care if someone is overpaid so they don’t report it. But research shows there are more overpayments then underpayments. https://www.3aw.com.au/overpayment-is-more-common-than-wage-theft/. The system is the problem. There are always going to be people that let others down including employers, employees, union leaders and so forth and that is why we need regulators. Thankfully the duds will always be in the minority. So let’s make the system simpler for the good people.
Peter, I looked at the research you cite to to prove that overpayments occur. A payroll association looked at 39, NOTE 39, companies to assess the occurrence of overpayments, and found that overpayments occur.
ABS figures to June 2019 show there are over 2.3 Million businesses trading in Australia. Let’s be generous for your proposition and say only half of those companies actually employ staff ie. 1.15 million businesses. Then, the research you rely on to endorse your argument reflects 0.000035% of Australian businesses.
Sorry – in any survey to reflect a valid sample, that does not even get close.
I’d prefer to analyse statements from our large employers who admit wage theft – some like Bunnings, Woolworths, Coles, ABC etc. You may have noticed not one of them has attempted to offset their admissions of staff underpayment by defining related overpayments.
A canny unionist said years ago – you can have the logic, so long as I can have the numbers. You do not have the logic or the numbers to support your claims that wage overpayments are significantly occurring.
Yes Mick, numerous IR specialists have debunked the employers claim that the IR system is too complex.
As you cite, we have seen a massive simplification to combine awards, redefine or clarify conditions and job classifications over recent years. This is what employers have been advocating for decades.
The various IR courts have pushed this. Unions advocating, union members and the employers have benefitted with better definitions, less confusion and lower legal costs.
It is an absolute farce for major corporations or peak employer bodies to defend wage theft by claiming it’s all too complex.
Once again, our timid media do not attempt to challenge those who make this claim, which is easily dismantled.
Interesting that New Zealand, under a Labor Government, scrapped awards in the 1990s. Research Does show overpayments occur as well. https://www.3aw.com.au/overpayment-is-more-common-than-wage-theft/ The proof is that Maurice Blackburn can’t get it right. They aren’t thieves nor are they incompetent it is just too complicated. If we care for workers we’d make it easy. Thanks
A law firm messed up awards, eh? Let me google that…
“Maurice Blackburn chief executive Jacob Varghese said the “error” was due to an ambiguous overtime provision in the enterprise agreement. “The union felt we were interpreting it wrong,” he said.”
Oops! Turns out there is too much complexity for the author, and they were not on an award wage.
If it’s so hard – why are so many companies coping? Because of their record keeping capabilities?
“Make it easier” – to rip off workers by those companies more interested in their bottom line?
Again, “Bring out your overpaid.”
What guarantees can you give that wage theft would decrease (or cease) under a “simplified system”?
… Isn’t this just another argument to deflect attention from those dishonest, unethical, unscrupulous, rorting employers – including some members (“union members”) of the CSBA “union/guild”?
Where are “all those jobs” we were promised would result from the slashing of penalty rates – for the more disadvantaged of our workers?
In an increasingly casualised, unpredictable, precarious and uncertain work-force?
Where are “all those jobs” we were promised would result from the slashing of penalty rates – for the more disadvantaged of our workers?
In an increasingly casualised, unpredictable, precarious and uncertain work-force?
Well, that’s a waste of server space if ever there was one. Citations? Evidence? Case study?