Task 1: I. R. Environment
1.1 Roles of the Major Elements of Australian Industrial Relations System
Australian Industrial Relations System aims to assess and improve the employment relationship in Australia. The academicians have assumed that some inherent conflicts exist between the employer and employee. Industrial relation focuses on shaping the employment relationship so that interest of both the parties is considered.
Australian industrial relations system is based on three major elements: industrial instruments, legislative framework and regulatory authorities. These three elements along with their major roles are briefly discussed in this section:
Legislative framework:
The organizations need to comply with the legislative framework of Australia for ensuring fair industrial relations or employment relationship. Fair Work Act 2009 has clearly defined and set guidelines regarding various issues such as right of entry, adverse actions, agreement making, general protections, unfair dismissals etc.
Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992 plays major role in determining the employer contribution to the superannuation fund. Safety legislation has been defined for different state and commonwealth level for ensuring workplace health and safety for the employees.
Additionally, some safety legislation is industry specific such as airline industry. Anti discrimination legislation for state and commonwealth is one of the most significant laws for the Australian Industry Relationship. Apart from the discussed acts, Privacy Act 1988, Income Tax Assessment act 1997 and different states Industrial Relations Act are the major elements of the industrial relations system (Iriq.com.au 2014).
Industrial Instruments:
Industrial instruments are important elements of Australian Industrial Relations. The national employment standards aim to secure fair practice. It includes fair work information statement of the employer, approval of public holidays, annual leave, parental leave, community service eave personal and care eave etc.
It clearly defines the maximum weekly working hours. Additionally, it requests for arranging flexible shifts according to the convenience of the employee. According to the national employment standards, the employee needs be notified before termination and must be paid for the termination and redundancy.
Modern awards are also an important part of the Australian industrial relations. Modern awards refer to the minimum wages and the conditions an employee is entitled to (Fairwork.gov.au 2014). Workplace agreements are found to be essential for ensuring industrial stability for the sizable workforce.
Common law contracts are significant for enforcing the promises in the workplace regarding employment.
Regulatory Authorities:
The regulatory authorities are responsible for determining the legislative framework and ensuring whether those are being implemented properly. Fair Work Commission has been established under the Fair Work Act and the major aim of this commission is to ensure fairness in the employment issues.
The commission emphasizes on dealing with the major disputes and issues in the workplaces. Another important role of the Fair Work Commission is to approve the agreements. Additionally, the Fair Work Commission assesses the applications of unfair dismissal.
It is responsible for providing initial protection and takes prompt action while dealing with the bullying cases. Australian Human Rights Commission has been established which is responsible for dealing with the issues such as discrimination, sexual harassment etc.
It enforces the anti discrimination law and deals with the cases of sexual harassment at workplace under the federal law (Humanrights.gov.au 2014). Building construction commissions are established at the federal level and Victoria for ensuring building safety. Moreover, federal court, state safety bodies, state anti-discrimination tribunals are important regulatory authorities of Australian industrial relations system.
1.2 List of industrial relations, workplace health and safety, equal employment and anti discrimination legislation:
| Industrial Relations | Workplace Health & Safety | Equal Employment Opportunity | Anti-discrimination | |
| Federal | Fair Work Act 2009 | Work health and Safety Act 2011,
Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 |
Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987 | Age Discrimination Act 2004, Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Racial Discrimination Act 1975, Sex Discrimination Act 1984
|
| QLD | Fair Work Act 2009 (Qirc.qld.gov.au 2014). | Work health and Safety Act 2011 | Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987 | Queensland Anti Discrimination Act 1991 |
| NSW | Fair Work Act 2009 | Work health and Safety Act 2011, Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011, Explosives Act 2003, Workers Compensation Act 1978 (Workcover.nsw.gov.au 2014).
|
Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987 | New South Wales Anti Discrimination Act 1977 |
| VIC | Fair Work Act 2009 | Occupational health and Safety Act 2004 (www.legislation.vic.gov.au 2014). | Victoria Equal Opportunity Act 1995 | Victoria Equal Opportunity Act 1995 |
| SA | Fair Work Act 2009 | Work health and Safety Act 2011 | Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987 | South Australia Anti Discrimination Act 1984 |
| WA | Fair Work Act 2009 | Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984, Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996 (Slp.wa.gov.au 2014).
|
Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987 | Western Australia Anti Discrimination Act 1984 |
| TAS | Fair Work Act 2009 | Tasmanian Work health and Safety Act 2012 | Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987 | Tasmanian Anti Discrimination Act 1998 |
| ACT | Fair Work Act 2009 | Work health and Safety Act 2011 | Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987 | Australian Capital Territory Anti Discrimination Act 1991 |
| NT | Fair Work Act 2009 | Work health and Safety Act 2011 | Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987 | Northern Territory Anti Discrimination Act 1977 |
1.3 Overview of the current Australian Industrial Relations System and the Relevant Legislation
Australian Industrial Relations System, the Fair work system was introduced in the year 2009 and was developed by the Fair Work Act 2009. It aims to assist Australians to develop fair workplaces.
Fair Work Commission, Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Building and Construction, the Federal Court of Australia, The Fair Work Division of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia are the pillar organizations of the Australia’s fair work system.
The legislative framework includes Fair work Act 2009, Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992, Privacy Act 1988, income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Fair Work Building Industry Act 2010, Anti Discrimination legislation, Safety legislation etc.
Fair Work Act aims to control the workplace relations system in Australia. The Fair Work Australia is considered as the industrial relations tribunal. It focuses on providing assistance to the employees and the employers. Fair Work Australia has the right to make the wage orders, vary awards, approve agreements etc.
Additionally, it assesses the agreements, determines the unfair dismissal claims, and assists the employees and the employers for resolving the disputes at the workplace (Fwc.gov.au 2014).
The Fair work commission is responsible for setting the safety net of the minimum wage rate as well as employment conditions. The fair work commission basically deals with the protected as well as unprotected industrial actions and assists in resolving the disputes at the workplace.
The Fair Work Commission of Australia is also responsible for ensuring that the bargaining process of the organizations is undertaken by following fair process. Additionally, it deals with the terminations issues such as unfair dismissal.
Fair Work Ombudsman is an organization that helps in finding the correct wage rate and assists the employers to calculate what must be the pay package for its employees. It also aids in determining the entitlements for the employees which includes leave benefits, overtime and allowances. The Fair Work Ombudsman aims to educate regarding the fair work practices, rights of the employee and the obligations.
It is responsible for investigating the complaints or breach of the workplace law, agreements as well as awards. The Fair Work Ombudsman helps in managing the business transfers, closures etc. it works with the industry, unions as well as other stakeholders for enforcing the workplace laws.
Fair Work Building and Construction provides advice as well as educational material regarding wage and conditions, workplace rights, workplace arrangements of the building and construction industry. It also provides information regarding the National Code of Practice of the building industry.
Applications related to termination of employment, unfair dismissal and contravention of the general protection are initially conciliated by the Fair Work Commission. If it is unable to settle the issue, the applicant can apply for further proceedings in the Federal Court (Fwc.gov.au 2014).
1.4 Difference between Industrial Relations and Employee Relations
Industrial relations encompass all employment relationships. Generally, it studies the relations between the employer and employees. Various factors play significant role in shaping up the relations between employers, workers and the government.
Industrial relations have been associated with the trade unions, industrial action and collective bargaining. It is extensively focused on the manufacturing sector which is labor intensive. On the other hand, ‘employee relations’ refer to the study of relations between the employee and employer along with the relations between the employees. This concept has been utilized in order to resolve conflicts in the workplace.
It also helps in improving the employee morale and enhances the motivation of the employee which helps in increasing productivity of the origination. The concept of employee relations is suitable for the service sector. Presently, employee relations are a more popular approach.
It has been found that employee relations have been achieving increasing popularity due to the consideration of the relations between employee and employers and employee which is more important than the laws, labor unions and other organizations for governing the relations at the workplace.
1.5 Enterprise and Workplace Bargaining Processes:
Enterprise bargaining can be defined as a process by which one or more employees and employers negotiate the terms and conditions for entering into an agreement (Fairwork.gov.au 2014). The enterprise bargaining process is briefly discussed in this section.
- Bargaining on a proposed enterprise agreement is initiated when the employer agrees upon it. Sometimes, when the majority support determination comes into an operation, bargaining process begins. This is referred as the notification time.
- If a majority of the employees wants to bargain or negotiate with the employer for making a new agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009 and the employer refuses to do so, the bargaining representative on the behalf of the employees can make an application to the Fair Work Commission for the majority support decision.
- If the fair Work Commission grants the determination, the employer has to bargain with its employees for making a new agreement (Fairwork.gov.au 2014).
- The employer should notify all the employees regarding the right to be represented within 14 days after the notification time.
- There are some criteria for selecting the bargaining representatives. The bargaining representative of employer or any union must be one who will be covered by the agreement.
- The bargaining process need to be undertaken in good faith. It means all the relevant information must be disclosed and the participating members or representatives must attend all the meeting in a timely manner.
- All the bargaining representatives need to respond to the proposals regularly by genuinely considering the proposals and providing justification for each response.
- The representatives participating in the bargaining process must refrain themselves from the any unfair misconduct which undermine the freedom of collective bargaining (Fwc.gov.au 2014).
Task 2: Analysis and Application
2.1 Reviewing the relevant documents of Star Industries, it can be found that Star’s existing employee relations performance is adequate in relation to its workforce objectives. Presently, the company is focusing on the restructuring and expansion activities.
It requires extensive support from the human resource of the organization. Star Industries have emphasized on managing the termination and redeployment issues ethically as well as legally. As the company is planning for expansion, it will have to recruit more number of employees.
Policies have been developed for the new recruitment process and induction training. However, the company is yet to come up with the budget of recruitment and induction process. Employee productivity is essential for maintaining the desired level of revenue. If the human resource is not managed well, the organization will encounter loss and customer dissatisfaction.
2.2 However, the existing employee relations performance have been found to be adequate for the company, some recommendations can be made for improving the employee relations at Star Industries. The recommendations are listed below:
- Star Industries need to develop a policy for addressing the discrimination issues in the company. Anti-discrimination policy must ensure that the organization recruits irrespective of the gender, ethnicity or religion.
- A policy needs to be designed for ensuring confidentiality of the documents for each employee.
- A mechanism is essential for addressing the employee grievances with prompt action. Star Industries does not have a policy for employee grievance management.
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