Less than three years ago, the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW celebrated the centenary of its foundation in 1902.
This widely respected institution may face oblivion after Kevin Andrews, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, announced that he would legislate state industrial relations systems out of existence when the government takes control of the Senate in July.
The justification is that moving workers into a federal system would make it less complex and less confusing for employer and employee alike.
Although this sounds superficially attractive, practitioners in the field of employment law - on both sides of the fence - know this to be nonsense. The Workplace Relations Act, enacted by the Howard Government in 1996, is renowned for its complexity, length and obscurity. More than eight years after coming into force, the High Court is still having to tell us what it means.
No comments:
Post a Comment