"The Fair Work Commission decision on Aldi demonstrates why industry was understandably worried about the problems that could flow from legislative changes giving significant new powers to rewrite enterprise agreement terms in a way that could result in more costly and rigid outcomes than were ever envisaged when an enterprise agreement was negotiated at the workplace," said Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association, Australian Industry Group.
The Fair Work Commission recently issued a decision dealing with an application for a new enterprise agreement for Aldi in which it wielded new powers to unilaterally rewrite a clause in the proposed instrument dealing with a flexible approach to part-time employment, without Aldi's consent, in order to address its concern that the agreement provisions would mean part-time employees would not be 'better off overall' when compared to the underpinning award.
"Employers simply should not be subject to agreement terms that they have not actually agreed to. Any other approach risks exposing employers to unforeseen and potentially unsustainable operational consequences and costs," Mr Willox said.
"The decision highlights yet another damaging impact that recent changes to workplace relations laws are having on employers.
"It also highlights a challenge arising from extremely restrictive rules in most modern awards concerning part-time employment and the Commission's approach to the application of the better off overall test when comparing these provisions to more flexible arrangements that both employers and workers have chosen to include in enterprise agreements applying to their workplace.
"Ultimately, it will send a message to many employers that they may need to rethink the utility of agreeing to flexible part-time employment models that are intended to allow them to offer permanent employment opportunities in preference to casual employment.
"Hopefully, the archaic, complex and unnecessarily restrictive provisions in many awards regulating the use of part-time employment will be reconsidered and modernised in an upcoming major review of part-time employment terms in awards by the Commission.
"Australian Industry Group will argue in these proceedings that we desperately need to reconsider the outdated rules around part-time employment if we genuinely want to help employers offer secure permanent jobs to employees who can't work full-time but would prefer part-time employment to casual work.
"Sadly, the decision highlights the risks and difficulties employers face from trying to deliver flexible part-time working arrangements that many businesses need and that many employees want. The decision will have ramifications for other retailers and for employers in many other sectors," Mr Willox said.
