Government secures support for industrial relations law reforms

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Workers will be able to ignore calls and emails from their bosses after hours without being penalised, while gig workers could be paid more, under sweeping changes to industrial relations laws. They're just two elements of the government's legislation that is set to pass parliament today.

Transcript

00:00 There's a number of elements to this. Some of the changes go across a number of different

00:07 industries and sectors, but in terms of who the winners are, re-workers, we're talking

00:12 about gig workers, so people that are an Uber driver or they're a delivery driver dropping

00:17 off food to you. Also as well, casual workers and truckies. They're the big winners out

00:22 of this package. I'll run you through some of the changes that are coming into place.

00:27 One that a lot of people are interested in is this right to disconnect. What it means

00:31 is workers legally don't have to return phone calls or text messages or emails after hours

00:37 from their boss or anyone from within the office, unless it's something about changing

00:42 a shift or it is an emergency. The government says this is a way to address overtime where

00:48 it isn't paid. Some of the other moves being made includes providing ways for a casual

00:53 to convert to a permanent position. That said, an employer may be able to offer or refuse

00:59 to offer work to a casual employee still. So there's still a little bit of wriggle movement

01:04 on both sides there. Union representatives will be able to enter workplaces without 24

01:10 hours notice if they believe the underpayment of workers is carrying out, but they do need

01:16 to get it approved by the Fair Work Commission. And finally, gig workers, as I mentioned,

01:20 they're Uber drivers, they're delivery drivers. Under these changes, there'll be new elements

01:25 whereby minimum standards are set. So that's around minimum pay and providing super for

01:31 these workers. Now, as a result of that part of the legislation, there's been a conversation

01:35 around the fact that the cost for consumers will rise because the paying conditions of

01:40 gig workers is changing. Independent Senator, though, David Pocock, who's supportive of

01:45 this legislation, said that's a short and small price to pay to ensure people, as in

01:52 the workers, are better off. On some of the platforms, when if the restaurant's late to

01:57 make the food, then if you're a driver and you're sitting there waiting, you're not getting

02:03 paid for that. You're just sitting around. That's on your own, your own time. And so

02:08 it's no wonder that we're seeing workers work across multiple apps rushing around. We've

02:14 tragically seen a number of deaths. And so the hope is with this legislation, having

02:22 minimum standards will ensure that people can get paid for the work that they do.

02:28 On one side, there is business groups and they're saying that this will add red tape

02:34 and there'll be less flexibility in workplaces as a result. But on the other side, there's

02:38 the unions and they're saying that this is better for workers and in particular, it's

02:42 going to be protecting vulnerable workers. Back here in Parliament, in terms of the politics

02:48 of it all, the government did need the support of the crossbench and the Greens because the

02:52 opposition was opposed to these measures, saying that common sense would be better than

02:57 putting new rules in place. So we've not only heard from the Greens today, they're obviously

03:02 supportive of the measures. You just heard there from Independent Senator David Pocock.

03:06 But government ministers have been out today spruiking the success of getting this legislation

03:11 to go through Parliament. Minister Brendan O'Connor spoke earlier specifically around

03:17 gig workers, casuals and that right to disconnect when you're not at work.

03:23 Just because you have a digital platform doesn't excuse people being paid less than minimum

03:28 conditions in this country. And I think this is going to close loopholes and provide security.

03:34 It's going to provide better conditions of employment. Too many of these casual workers

03:40 have got a 30 year mortgage but they could be terminated in one hour. Or worse, they

03:45 cannot get a mortgage because they do not have permanent work. So this legislation is

03:50 absolutely critical for millions of Australians.

03:55 So let's talk logistics in terms of what happens next. This is expected to pass the Senate

04:00 later this afternoon, the legislation. But some of these changes won't actually then

04:04 be implemented for a number of months into the workforce. So it's not as if this is all

04:09 going to happen overnight.

04:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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