A Fair Work Commission (FWC) decision has aligned with one of AREEA’s key principles for Australia’s future workplaces.
The decision, made by a FWC full bench headed by president Justice Iain Ross, links to an AREEA report, A New Horizon: Guiding Principles for the Future of Work, which calls for less regulation and fewer restrictions.
As reported in the Australian Financial Review, the decision means restaurants and cafes have been given the initial OK to exclude chefs and managers from minimum conditions if they earn more than $82,000 a year.
It is seen as a significant step towards the Morrison government’s bid for award flexibility.
The decision provisionally backs the Restaurant & Catering Australia’s proposal that front-of-house managers and senior chefs can work up to 57 hours a week without incurring penalty rates, allowances, meal breaks or overtime if they are paid 170 per cent of the base rate.
The proposal streamlines restaurant award classifications, exempting higher-paid workers from key award conditions for higher pay and introduce all-in allowances
It would mean a senior manager or sous chef would be exempt from the award on about $82,000 a year while a head chef would be exempt on more than $85,000.”
Allowing high-earning employees to largely “opt out” of the legislative system was one of 12 principles to guide future policy making in the AREEA report published back in 2018.
The report found the only way forward for Australia’s future workplaces is less regulation, fewer restrictions and through policymakers resisting the push for intervention and protectionism.
Drawing from a national employer survey and interviews with resources executives, the report explored how technology, demographic and competitive factors are influencing the future of work in the resources and energy industry, and puts forward 12 principles to guide future policy making.
“With significant change taking place in their workplaces, resources and energy employers have long called for a future-focused vision for work,” AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott said.
A key message is that employment arrangements in high-paying, innovation-driven sectors of the economy should be subject to far less regulation than those in lower-paying areas.
Arguing the majority of existing regulation becomes unnecessary once a certain salary is reached, it calls for a mechanism to enable high-paying employers to completely remove the risk of protected industrial action in their workplaces.
“Less regulation for those personnel above a nominated high income threshold, and less regulation for high-paying employers would unlock significant productivity and efficiency while also reducing regulatory burden for the highest-performing areas of Australia’s economy,” Mr Knott said.
“This concept should not be viewed as overly remarkable, given areas of Australia’s present work regulation system, most notably the unfair dismissal provisions, already recognise that certain protections are not needed above a certain remuneration level.
“The extension of this rationale to the wider work system is not only logical, but would lift regulatory burden and productivity barriers for employers and employees in the top tier of Australian industries.”
To view the report click here.
