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Despite $37 million IR ad campaign only one in ten AWAs undergo ‘Fairness Test’
A new official report released today shows that despite a $37 million taxpayer funded IR advertising campaign to promote the Howard Government’s new workplace watchdog, it has checked only one in ten AWA individual contracts since the introduction of the so-called ’Fairness Test’.
The report shows there are lengthy delays in the operation of the Howard Government’s so-called ‘Fairness Test’ and a massive backlog of more than 110,000 workers who are yet to have their workplace agreements checked by the Workplace Authority and to know they are being paid correctly.
Figures released today by the Howard Government’s Workplace Authority show that 123,100 workplace agreements have been lodged in the four months since the introduction of the new ‘fairness test’ on 7 May 2007 and yet only 12,749 assessments (10%) have been finalised.
The figures also show that a significant number of the agreements are not passing the test, with workers facing the loss of penalty rates, overtime pay and other award conditions without adequate compensation.
The Workplace Authority report also shows that despite the massive taxpayer-funded advertising campaign, employers are still trying to use the Howard Govt’s IR laws to cut the wages and conditions of their employees and that women workers in the retail and hospitality sectors are particularly at risk.
One example cited by the Workplace Authority that failed the ‘Fairness Test’ is a female food and beverage worker at a hotel who was employed under an AWA individual contract that removed penalty rates and shift loadings, with the worker suffering a cut to her take home pay of $156 a week.
Another example that failed the ‘Fairness Test’ concerns a female shop assistant employed on an AWA individual contract that removed penalty rates, overtime pay and shift loading — cutting her pay by $42 a week.
ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said:
“The massive backlog and long delay in checking AWAs confirm that the so-called Fairness Test is a farce and the Workplace Authority’s advertisements are a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
“There is a huge backlog with workers waiting more than four months to have their agreements checked and a disturbingly high number of workers whose boss is still trying to rip them off by removing their penalty rates, overtime pay, shift loadings and other award conditions.
“The only way to make sure that workers are treated fairly is to get rid of the Howard Government’s unfair WorkChoices IR laws.
“The WorkChoices laws are fundamentally unfair and no amount of window dressing can disguise this basic fact,” said Mr Lawrence.
ACTU MEDIA RELEASE
6 September 2007
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