The Incompatibility of Decentralized Bargaining and Equal Employment Opportunity in Australia

Strachan, Glenda; Burgess, John

doi:10.1111/1467-8543.00169

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Some research suggests that agreement making through certified agreements, and particularly Australia Workplace Agreements (AWAs), tend to make balancing work and family responsibilities more difficult for employees because they often include provisions that expand the hours of ordinary work both during the week and on weekends, while reducing penalty and overtime rates (Van Barneveld and Arsovska, 2001). AWAs are also being used less to enhance work and family balance than to extend working hours so that enterprises' trading hours can be increased (Charlesworth, 1997;O'Neill, 2004;Strachan and Burgess, 2000). The framework of the new Work Choices legislation, with the removal of the 'no-disadvantage' test for the making of new AWAs and collective agreements, has the potential to strip back the set of model 'family friendly' entitlements such as those achieved in the ACTU Work and Family Test Case.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the application of equal employment opportunities principles is limited by the restricted targeting of large enterprises, the lack of equity norms and its non-enforceability (Strachan and Burgess, 2000).…”

Section: Work and Family Legislative Reformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986 places a legal obligation upon private sector companies and trade unions with 100 or more employees, community organizations, non-government schools, group training schemes, and all institutions of higher education, to establish and report back on affirmative action (AA) programmes set for women (Napoli, 1994), including strategies to eliminate discrimination. However, the application of equal employment opportunities principles is limited by the restricted targeting of large enterprises, the lack of equity norms and its non-enforceability (Strachan and Burgess, 2000).…”

Section: Work and Family Legislative Reformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Family Responsibilities Discrimination in Queensland Workplaces: Where Business and Caring Collide

McDonald

2008

Journal of Industrial Relations

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Although a large body of literature has addressed many of the issues relating to flexible working from both a supply and demand perspective, less attention has focused on situations where these two positions conflict. This research explores a secondary, qualitative data set consisting of over 200 cases of alleged family responsibilities discrimination reported to a community advocacy organization in Brisbane, Australia. Findings indicate that discord in the work environment occurs in relation to (1) requests for part-time work; (2) altered duties during or after maternity leave; (3) requests for changes to rostered work hours; (4) having to take leave to care for sick children; and (5) opportunities for recruitment or promotion. Direct family responsibilities discrimination was evident in only six cases, while the remainder were indirect. A small number of cases were formally lodged for redress although financial compensation was limited. Economic factors such as a shrinking labour force highlight the importance of finding solutions to situations where business imperatives and the well-being of families collide.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Work and Family Legislative Reformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Work and Family Legislative Reformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Family Responsibilities Discrimination in Queensland Workplaces: Where Business and Caring Collide

McDonald

2008

Journal of Industrial Relations

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“…Again a strong gender dimension is present and in part reflects the inherent inequality of the enterprise wage determination system (Strachan & Burgess 2000;Carlson et al 2001). A systematic shift away from full-time employment challenges many of the assumptions that have linked employment to a range of policies including onthe-job training, career progression, retirement incomes and OHS standards.…”

Section: The Implications Of Ongoing Part-time Jobs Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Australian Labour Market 2001

Biddle¹,

Burgess²,

Mitchell³

et al. 2002

Journal of Industrial Relations

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I n this review of the Australian labour market for 2001 we examine the persistence of the unemployment problems in Australia. We then review four issues: a) the youth labour market, b) the position of older males in the Australian labour market, c) workforce access to long service leave, and d) the dominant OECD supply-side policy framework that is currently driving labour market policy in Australia. Overall, the jobs market continues to be sluggish, full-time jobs are scarce and official unemployment rates disguise the extent of labour under-utilisation in Australia.

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“…Therefore award regulation has acted as a system of protection for individual employees against the untrammelled operations of the free market, supplementing the much more partial protection offered by individual trade unions. This system changed in the 1990s to emphasise collective bargaining at the workplace and reduced protection for workers (Strachan and Burgess, 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Unfinished Business: Employment Equality In Australia

Strachan¹,

Burgess²

2002

Library of Public Policy and Public Administration

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Discrimination by race and gender has been a major feature of Australian history since European settlement in 1788. The period until the 1970s was characterised by overt discrimination on the grounds of gender and race with discriminatory policies affecting the employment of women, Aborigines and non-European migrants. Agitation for changes grew in the 1960s with lobbying from a variety of groups within the community including burgeoning women's groups, trade unions, and groups pursuing changes on racial issues. Changes in legislation and policies began to be achieved in the late 1960s, with equal pay awards on the basis of gender and race and the removal of some discriminatory employment practices such as the 'marriage bar', which prevented married women from retaining permanent employment in public services and areas of private employment. Beginning in 1975, anti-discrimination legislation was introduced on the grounds of race and sex. In the following decade affirmative action legislation required large employers to take a more pro-active stance on examining discrimination against women within their organisation and instituting a program which would assist in the achievement of equal employment opportunity. At the beginning of the twenty-first century in Australia there is public recognition of women's and all ethnic groups' rights to work and not be subjected to discriminatory practices. The outcomes from these policies, however, are not so clear cut. Women and Aborigines (1.5 per cent of the population) earn less than white men and Aborigines have a significantly higher unemployment rate. Women form the majority of temporary and part-time workers. In an increasingly decentralised industrial relations system which emphasises collective bargaining at the workplace, regulations for minimum working standards are being reduced. Thus, despite continuing antidiscrimination and affirmative action policies, the labour market is becoming increasingly insecure for more of the workforce. Yet security in employment and minimum standards are crucial for the achievement of employment equity. This chapter discusses the evolution of policies designed to achieve equal opportunity in employment. It concentrates on policies which affect women and Aborigines. AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY AND DISCRIMINATION The first European settlers arrived in 1788 to establish a British penal colony of convicts and jailers. Mass migration from Europe in the nineteenth century created the twentieth century nation of Australia. One and a half million immigrants arrived from Europe, principally from the United Kingdom, between 1821 and 1900 (Haines and Shlomowitz, 1992). Migration from 1879 to 1910 increased Australia's labour force by 42 percent, third in the New World behind Argentina (86 percent) and Canada (44 percent) (Hatton and Williamson, 1998: 208). In the twentieth century the largest wave of immigrants came from Europe after World War II until the 1960s. Immigration in Australia was closely tied to labour market needs with migrant men and women ...

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The Incompatibility of Decentralized Bargaining and Equal Employment Opportunity in Australia

Cited by 13 publications

References 12 publications

Family Responsibilities Discrimination in Queensland Workplaces: Where Business and Caring Collide

Family Responsibilities Discrimination in Queensland Workplaces: Where Business and Caring Collide

The Australian Labour Market 2001

Unfinished Business: Employment Equality In Australia

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