Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110

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Soapbox: Sound familiar?

John Laws of the Australian Cleaning Contractors' Alliance sounds off about some of the problems created by changes to the Fair Work Act, which were implemented by the Federal Government at the beginning of the month.

"A good Employer Body will be up in arms at any changes to basic terms and conditions of engagement and work, and so they should, because the continuous erosion of personal and managerial rights continues apace.

Whilst we have a Labor Government they will continue to implement their agenda of Union based restrictions on Employer freedom and continue the path of making the task of employing people more and more difficult while ensuring the workers have more and more opportunities to make life difficult for the boss.

Quite a number of our members from European backgrounds have commented to me that things are more difficult here in a so called free country than they were under Communist oppression in their old country.

Some of the changes will be for the long term good such as the anti bullying legislation and we all know that there are plenty of bullies on the employer side as well as the employee side. It will be good to see some of those "nice" people get due treatment.

Other changes are not designed to help employers at all. Now we have to consult with workers if we wish to make changes to rosters. Well then, there goes any sensible changes to rosters.

As to the family changes I am sure I came from a different planet. We now have Gen Y young people who expect to be employed as the boss, not the workers, from day one, male or/and females entitled to parental leave. And now they have the right to flexible working arrangements (read suits them) so that they can get children to school, take them to the doctor etc. In my day a cooperative relationship with the boss got over those things but now the BULLIES in Government are legislating these things.

In all my years as an employee and employer there has never been an occasion where an honest request for some flexibility in order to achieve a goal was turned down. All it took was to work a bit extra as needed or to understand a person's particular circumstances and things would be quickly sorted with goodwill and a happy outcome.

Whether an election results in one side or another taking charge I really believe its time for Employer Bodies to get together and start standing up for the rights of the Employer and show Government we have had enough and can no longer compete with all the nonsense we are forced to comply with."

T: 02 9712 1566
E: [email protected]
W: www.cleaningcontractors.com.au

25th July 2013