New employment laws starting tomorrow will lift business confidence and jobs

The employment law changes starting from tomorrow will lift business confidence by encouraging the hiring of new staff, says David Lowe, Employment Services Manager for the Employers & Manufacturers Association.

"Personal grievances and holidays' laws have consistently been the two biggest reasons employers say they put off hiring, and the Government has addressed both," Mr Lowe said.

"Employers are pleased the 90 day trial employment periods will now apply to all organisations.

"That's a victory for commonsense as the evidence is clear that under trial periods employers have hired sooner than they otherwise would have, and the smaller employers to whom it previously applied have used the provision responsibly.

"We note the Australian union movement recommended their government adopt a 90 day trial employment period.

"Businesses will find the law changes encouraging as they give some flexibility to get on and run their businesses, rather than get tangled up in red tape.

"Successful businesses are important for everyone, and they need to be encouraged and valued.

"For years employees have been asking their employers to cash up some of their annual leave, and at long last the law makes it possible for businesses to agree to an employee's request to do this.

"The date an employee can first ask to cash up annual leave starts on the anniversary date they started work, but this date is different for each employee and some will have to wait until 2012 before being able to make their first request.

"The law change to union access became necessary because of a few union officials who behaved badly or tried to disrupt a business, but employers are still bound by a reasonableness test. Examples of the sort of behavior that needed curbing follows."

Examples of union organisers' actions

1. Going in the front entrance of a major fast food retail chain and in front of customers yelling at the supervisor that the staff are treated badly and paid poorly. The union organiser refused to leave when asked, stating they had a right to be on the premises.

2. Standing in the internal doorway of a business when union members were on strike to prevent non-union staff from coming in to work.

3. Reaching agreement with the employer to meet staff in the cafeteria for an agreed amount of time (as health and safety reasons prevented them from wandering around the workplace), and refusing to finish the discussion after the agreed time. The employer asked the meeting to be wound up but the union ignored the request.

4. Approaching a completely non-unionised workplace. The union asked the receptionist for entry. She had no knowledge of the law around union access and asked the union organiser to wait while she got a manager but the union organiser created such a commotion at being asked to wait the receptionist was reduced to tears.

5. A union did not inform an employer they were on site at a company which employed mentally disabled people. The employer found the union asking these disabled staff to write their names on a piece of paper which turned out to be a union membership form. These staff said they did not understand they were joining the union.

6. A union organiser was in occupied hotel rooms that contained guests' belongings talking to the staff cleaning those rooms, a serious breach of security. The union had not advised the employer they were on site.

7. A union organiser demanded the employer agree and arrange access meetings at a date and times suiting the union organiser though the times were disruptive to the business. The union advised the employer that if they did not agree, the meetings would be held in retail areas to maximise customer disruption.

8. Utu squads have been formed to target businesses. "This company could be another early target of Unite Union 'UTU (Unite The Union) squads.'" [31 August 2010, Mike Treen, National Director, Unite Union].

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