{"id":942,"date":"2018-08-08T22:28:02","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T22:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/workplaceculturematters.com.au\/?p=942"},"modified":"2018-08-08T22:29:30","modified_gmt":"2018-08-08T22:29:30","slug":"playing-with-fire-the-real-implications-of-shortens-proposal-to-reverse-penalty-rate-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/?p=942","title":{"rendered":"Playing with fire: The real implications of Shorten’s proposal to reverse penalty rate decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

In May 2016 Bill Shorten said, speaking to the ABC, that a government proposing to legislate penalty rate outcomes was \u201cplaying with fire\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In\u00a0July 2016, he told the SBS that the matter of penalty rates should be determined by the \u201cindependent umpire\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet now,\u00a0Mr Shorten proposes to go to the next election with a major policy that if elected his Labor government will override, with legislation, the decision of the independent umpire on penalty rates. <\/span><\/p>\n

This article argues strongly that the independence of the Fair Work Commission should be protected for the sake of employees, employers and the economy. Shorten\u2019s proposed legislative override is a dangerous political manoeuvre, which could jeopordise more than a century of gains achieved for workers in Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Penalty Rate decision<\/b><\/p>\n

After three years of consultations, 6,000 submissions and analysis of economic research, the Fair Work Commission made a decision last year, which has since been implemented, that some penalty rates in five awards should be reduced. Whatever your view may be on the economic and social impacts of this decision, whether you support or are against the penalty rates changes, Bill Shorten\u2019s attack on the independent umpire should be a concern.<\/span><\/p>\n

History of the FWC<\/b><\/p>\n

The Fair Work Commission, as an independent body, has scope to regulate and make decisions related to the minimum wage, industrial awards, penalty rates and enterprise bargaining. Throughout its history, it has made decisions that have attempted to reflect the economic reality of business in Australia whilst taking into account the dynamic of the employer-employee relationship and the need for a living wage. It has often made decisions which are viewed more favourably by one side of politics than the other. \u00a0However, the independence of the Commission has always been an imperative and its difficult decisions have been accepted, if not always liked, by stakeholders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider just some of the many important decisions which have been made by the Commission and its predecessors:<\/span><\/p>\n