Rudd Government - Industrial Relations

Industrial Relations

WorkChoices, the industrial relations regime introduced by the Howard government, was overhauled. Rudd's 2007 policy included the phasing out of Australian Workplace Agreements over a period of up to five years, the establishment of a simpler awards system as a safety net, the restoration of unfair dismissal laws for companies with under 100 employees (probation period of 12 months for companies with less than 15 employees), and the retention of the Australian Building and Construction Commission until 2010. It retains the illegality of secondary boycotts, the right of employers to lock workers out, restriction of union right of entry to workplaces, and restrictions on workers' right to strike. Rudd also outlined the establishment of a single industrial relations bureaucracy called Fair Work Australia, which will play a far more interventionist role than the Howard Government's Fair Pay Commission.

Some unions claimed it to be "WorkChoices Lite", although the most fundamental elements were reversed. Employer groups for the hospitality industry expressed concern over the legislation, suggesting more rigid and expensive wage and other outcomes with employees would be particularly difficult for many businesses to afford during an economic downturn.