Majority Report
1.
The committee’s consideration of provisions
relating to unfair dismissal, which are the substance of the Workplace
Relations Amendment (Termination of Employment) Bill 2002 (‘the bill’), was its
fourth such scrutiny of proposed legislation to implement this policy.[1] The Senate has failed to pass
previous bills. It must be noted, however that the current bill is
significantly different from its predecessors in that its legislative basis is
the corporations power. For this reason, the committee took pains to elicit
submissions from state governments and from several industrial legal academics
with an interest in constitutional matters. In writing its report the committee
has drawn on academic commentary on the merits of a unitary system of industrial
relations, for the reason that this bill proposes a further shift in the
legislative basis of the Workplace Relations Act away from the conciliation and
arbitration power in the Constitution (section 51 (xxv)), toward the
corporations power in section 51 (xx).
2.
Specifically, this bill expands federal unfair dismissal laws in two
ways. First, it extends the federal scheme to all employers of corporations as
defined in section 4 of the Workplace Relations Act 1996, in accordance
with section 51 (xx) of the Constitution. Second, the bill makes this expanded
regime exclusive to the federal jurisdiction. Access to remedies under state
industrial laws would no longer be available. This will serve to considerably
reduce the incidence of ‘forum shopping’.
The inquiry process
3.
The current bill was introduced in the House of
Representatives on 13 November 2002 and the debate adjourned at second reading. The Senate referred the
provisions of the bill to the committee on 11 December 2002. The Committee conducted a
public hearing on the bill in Melbourne on 24 February 2003.
In preparing this report the committee has drawn on evidence it received at
that hearing and on the 23 submissions received. Details of this evidence are
to be found in appendices to this report.
4.
The Selection of Bills Committee Report No 14 of
2002, 11 December 2002 set out
the principal issues for consideration by this committee:
- The impact of the bill on job security.
- The constitutional implication of the bill
- The development of the bill and Commonwealth-state relations
- The impact of the bill on procedures.
5.
The committee has chosen to focus on two issues that are at the core of
this legislation: the continuing need for exemption for small business from
current onerous unfair employment termination provisions; and the new approach
taken by the government to overcome constitutional hurdles in constructing a
unitary unfair dismissal claim process for the majority of the workforce.
Unfair dismissal claims – a continuing vexation
6.
The policy merits of the bill as they relate to
improved prospects for employment in the small business sector have been dealt
with in detail in previous reports of the committee on unfair dismissal
legislation. It is acknowledged that there is continued controversy about the
extent to which may be justified, the claims of business to be seriously
impeded in its recruitment of employees by the threat of unfair dismissal
claims. The committee majority notes that evidence of this factor as an
impediment to recruitment is no less strong than it was in 1998 when the
committee first looked at the problem. Recent research by Professor Don Harding
of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research,
commissioned by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, and
referred to in detail later in this report, is the latest of a number of
surveys of business indicating very clearly the concerns of business about this
issue. The committee considers in more detail the constitutional and procedural
implications of the bill: those elements in which it breaks new ground in the
Government’s endeavours to simplify workplace relations law and thereby create
employment growth.
7.
Parliament has grappled for nearly ten years to
make balanced laws to regulate the rights of both employees and employers in
relation to termination of employment. The committee majority notes that only
relatively minor changes have been agreed to in redressing the rights of
employers to defend termination actions. The law is not as deficient as it was
because of some improvements made. This bill is intended to ensure that a more
even balance between competing interests is assured. It needs to be seen in a
context of continued adaptation of the law to employment reality over nearly a
decade. The original unfair dismissals provisions contained in 1994 amendments
to the Industrial Relations Act 1988 were amended soon after in response
to employer complaints about the excessively wide scope of the legislation. The
Workplace Relations Act 1996 further amended these provisions to
institute a more even balance between the rights of employers and employees.
This, and successive legislative attempts to establish a more even balance have
achieved only partial success.
8.
The Workplace Relations Amendment
(Termination of Employment) Act 2001 made further significant technical
improvements. These amendments included provisions requiring that:
-
new employees have to be employed for
three months before they can bring claims;
- the Commission must take into account
the different sizes of businesses when assessing whether dismissal procedures
were reasonable;
- wider scope for costs to be awarded
against parties who act unreasonably;
- penalty provisions for lawyers and
advisers who encourage parties to make or defend unfair dismissal claims where
there is no reasonable prospect of the claim or defence being successful, with
penalties are up to $10,000 for a company and $2,000 for an individual;
- lawyers and advisers must now disclose
if they are operating on a ‘no win no pay’ or contingency fee basis;
- the Commission can now dismiss a claim
following an initial conciliation hearing if it has no reasonable prospect of
success or if the dismissed employee fails to attend hearings or makes another
application in respect of the same dismissal; and
- tighter rules apply for extensions of
time for the lodgement of late applications and claims by demoted employees.
9.
Important as these amendments have been, the Government believes that,
on balance, the scales are still tipped unfairly against the interests of small
businesses which were more vulnerable then medium and large businesses to the
effects of the postulated legal action brought by aggrieved employees.
Supporting small business employment
10.
The committee majority notes that the objective of workplace relations
reform has, since 1996, been inextricably linked with employment growth and the
right of individuals to seek employment unhampered by restrictive work
practices. Over-regulation of work practices has been an historic legacy which
has only recently begun to be addressed. The committee majority regards this
bill as one of a number of important interlinking legislative measures which
have been presented to Parliament in recent years challenging to a conservative
work culture in serious need of transformation. There is some evidence, based
on OECD reports, that work practice changes, in conjunction with economic
measures, are ensuring improved levels of labour productivity. Success in some
areas, however, continues to highlight deficiencies in others, and points the
way to fresh targets in workplace relations reform.
The costs to small business
11.
Research commissioned by DEWR in 2002 and conducted by the Melbourne
Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research found that state and federal
unfair dismissal laws cost small and medium businesses $1.3 billion each year.[2]
There is general agreement that the defence of an unfair dismissal claim places
a relatively greater burden and cost on small businesses. They do not have the
same ability as larger businesses to employ specialist staff to manage human
resource issues like recruitment, termination and underperformance. Small
businesses do not have the same financial resources to defend a claim or the
staff to cover the owner-manager if he or she has to attend a hearing
personally.
12.
Professor Keith Hancock, otherwise critical of some aspects of the bill,
concedes that there are ‘economies of scale’ in complying with the Act, and
that small business is disadvantaged in regard to the absence of human resource
personnel and because of the owners indispensability to operation during
business hours.
For large businesses, the incidence of claims of unfair
dismissal may be relatively stable and predictable and can be factored into
business decisions. For small business, there is a greater element of risk, and
risk-averse employers will understandably perceive a disadvantage.[3]
13.
The committee majority sees overwhelming evidence that the cost to small
business in defending unfair dismissal claims is disproportionately high. A
significant factor in these costs is the time spent by business owners away
from work, and in many cases, the closure of the business during trading hours.
Restaurant and Catering Australia has conducted surveys which indicate that up
to 38 per cent of member businesses had defended an unfair dismissal claim in
the previous three years, with the average cost of defending the claim being
$3, 675 with an average absence away from the business by the manager-owner
being 63 hours.[4]
14.
Evidence has been received by the committee of many employers opting to
settle out of court unfair dismissal claims that are vexatious or otherwise
without merit so as to avoid additional costs in time and money. While recent
amendments to the Act have reduced such incidences, that choice is still being
made. ACCI has submitted that out of court settlements ‘in the thousands of
dollars’ are still being made: a phenomenon which reveals the operation of a
flawed system.[5]
15.
Professor Andrew Stewart believes this to be a problem with both federal
and state unfair dismissal laws. Professor Stewart claims that both surveys and
anecdotal evidence suggest that many claimants with marginal cases walk away
with settlements paid by employers who cannot be bothered with the time and expense
of disputing the case. As the law stands, it almost always makes commercial
sense to settle, often at much less cost.[6]
16.
The expense of defending an unfair dismissal claim may also
significantly affect business earnings, with the result that many small business
employers are reluctant to defend even unmeritorious unfair dismissal claims,
preferring instead to settle the claim as quickly and cheaply as possible. The
expense is two fold – the need for legal or other representation and time lost
attending hearings. In very many cases such litigation would have the effect of
curtailing the hours of operation of a business. The Government has argued this
point consistently in all debates relating to unfair dismissal legislation.
17.
The National Farmers Federation has advised the committee of the
particular problems faced by primary producers embroiled in unfair dismissal
cases. Agricultural businesses find it difficult to set aside contingency funds
for unfair dismissal compensation or to defend legal actions owing to the
seasonal nature of agriculture and the higher degree of unpredictability in
regard to profit margins. The factors peculiar to agriculture put the plight of
primary producers in the especially ‘hard basket’[7].
18.
ACCI have also described how the inhibiting tendency of the unfair
dismissal laws can affect the efficiency of businesses:
There is also a different – but related aspect
to the connection between unfair dismissal laws and employment. Unfair
dismissal laws (depending on their content) can also operate as a disincentive
to terminate a non-performing employee, and replace that employee with a more
satisfactory staff member. In this way unfair dismissal laws operate as a brake
on business efficiency, rather than employment per se. From an employers
perspective, that is no less important a consideration. Nor is this a valid
basis to argue that unfair dismissal laws protect job security. Retaining under
performing employees does no good to the overall job security of the remaining
staff, nor the capacity of the Australian economy to generate jobs.[8]
19. The committee majority agrees with the logic of
the argument presented by ACCI. The committee heard evidence of the efforts
made by DEST to provide both comprehensive and effective education and training
programs on small business management. While it does not dismiss arguments for
the need for even more more training and mentoring for small business owners,
it does not accept that small business owners want a change in the law to mask
their managerial inadequacies, as is often claimed by the bill’s detractors.
Differential employment rules for small business
20. The relatively onerous cost to small business of
defending unfair dismissal claims, or of paying off vexatious claimants,
highlights the need for differential employment rules for small business. The
committee heard evidence bearing upon business size as a justification for
differential employment rules. Opposition party senators took the line that
employees of small businesses were disadvantaged by concessions made to small
business with regard to unfair dismissal clauses in the bill. The committee
majority draws attention to evidence given by ACCI in regard to the
circumstances of small businesses and their limited capacity to respond to
personnel management problems. As the committee heard:
... the distinction on size
comes down to the fact that, when you look at this jurisdiction, it is about
employees’ rights as against employers’ businesses. You have to qualify rights
by reference to the real environment in which they are sought to be exercised.
Those rights are exercised against a particular business. Smaller businesses
are in a more vulnerable position when it comes to both pre-termination issues
and post-termination issues.
Pre termination, smaller
businesses are less likely to have the internal resources to be able to go
through the formal processes that our unfair dismissal cases indicate are
necessary to establish a fair dismissal according to law, because workplace
relationships are much more informal in small business. The business
proprietors themselves individually have to not only work in the business but
also deal at large with all of the regulatory issues that arise. So, whilst
there is a differential in terms of the rights between larger businesses and
smaller businesses when you talk about cut-offs, that is because there are
different business profiles in which those rights are sought to be exercised.
Post termination, smaller businesses again have fewer resources
to defend matters. If you are having to pull perhaps your one supervisor out of
a shop to go down to the unfair dismissal jurisdiction to defend the claim and
explain inadequate performance and the like, that has massive implications for
the operation of your business over that period of time, whereas one manager
coming out of a larger business may have much less impact on the business.[9]
21. The committee majority notes that most
submissions from state governments and from some academics argued against the
fairness of differential conditions for small business employees. This is a
view that takes no account of the circumstances of small business. For
instance, one of the long-standing grievances of small business is time taken
with dealing with vexatious or otherwise unmeritorious claims of unfair
dismissal: such claims abetted in the past by lawyers operating on a fee
contingency basis. For this reason, Schedule 2 of the bill would allow the
Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) to reject an unfair dismissal
application without hold a hearing (the so-called ‘on the papers’ provision),
thus allowing the Commission to remove from its caseload applications that are
beyond its jurisdiction or which are frivolous or vexatious. The effect would
be to free the Commission to deal with genuine claims. As the committee was
told, there is no reason why a small business employer should be put to the
cost and inconvenience of appearing at conciliation hearings before the
Commission on an application which should not have been made.[10]
The committee majority notes the advantage to small business in this provision,
but can identify nothing in it which removes from small business an obligation
on employers to abide by the unfair dismissal laws or take responsibility for
any breaches of this law.
19.
22. ACCI reminded the committee that
differential employment conditions existed in several areas of industrial law.
For instance in provisions for maternity leave[11].
The DEWR submission also noted that small businesses were dealt with
differently from larger businesses under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
and A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 and the
Privacy Act 1988.
20.
23. DEWR also provided data from the
Productivity Commission which illustrates the relative fragility of small business
compared to larger businesses. For instance, small businesses have a lower
survival rate, especially in the short term.[12]
Cumulative exit rates
and survival rates, by size of business |
Years of operation |
Changes in ownership |
Cessations |
Total exists |
Total survivals |
Small businesses |
% |
% |
% |
% |
1 |
2.1 |
7.5 |
9.6 |
90.4 |
2 |
3.9 |
14.3 |
18.3 |
81.7 |
5 |
7.4 |
27.4 |
34.9 |
65.1 |
10 |
11.8 |
43.5 |
55.3 |
44.7 |
15 |
13.5 |
52.1 |
65.6 |
34.3 |
Large businesses |
|
|
|
|
1 |
4.4 |
3.8 |
8.2 |
91.8 |
2 |
8.4 |
7.3 |
15.7 |
84.3 |
5 |
12.2 |
16.3 |
28.5 |
71.5 |
10 |
20.7 |
27.1 |
47.7 |
52.3 |
15 |
25.2 |
30.9 |
56.1 |
43.9 |
Small business perceptions of impediments to employment
24. Central to the Government’s policy objectives to
be pursued through this legislation is the expansion of employment
opportunities in the small business sector. The committee majority regards the
removal of impediments to employment as the principal goal of this bill, and
justifies the new approach taken by the Government. The committee majority
understands that surveys of small business attitudes are liable to be
questioned as to their statistical validity. It is aware that perceptions of
disadvantage may be felt by business owners partly as a consequence of lack of
information or through an inability to keep themselves reliably informed. This
does not alter the basic fact that many small business owners have some reason
for either knowing, or believing, that the currents laws relating to unfair
dismissal impede them from offering employment opportunities. Perception has
become a reality requiring legislation to deal with the problem.
25. Evidence from the Melbourne Institute research
(referred to above) commissioned by DEWR, in which were surveyed some 1802
small and medium businesses with fewer than 200 employees, showed that
dismissal laws contributed to the loss of about 77 000 jobs from businesses
which used to employ staff and now no longer employ anyone (about 60,000 of
these from small businesses with fewer than 20 employees). According to DEWR it
is likely that the effect on jobs growth would appear to be larger than the
estimate of 77,000 as the figures do not take into account jobs abolished by
businesses which have reduced their workforce. Nor do they include jobs which
would have been created if there were no unfair dismissal laws.[13]
26. The Melbourne Institute survey also showed that
the most disadvantaged job seekers are most seriously affected by current
unfair dismissal laws. It found that businesses were now less inclined to hire
young people, the long-term unemployed, and those with lower levels of education,
turning instead to casuals and others on fixed term contracts or longer
probationary periods.[14]
27. The committee majority notes that all of the
surveys done of small business attitudes to unfair dismissal have been
criticised by opponents of government policy. Its attitude inclines toward the
views expressed by ACCI when its representative gave evidence to the committee
on the statistical validity of the Melbourne Institute survey:
We think the Melbourne
Institute work certainly does contribute to the debate. ... One can always
quibble at the edges about questions, methodology and assumptions that build
into estimates, but it is independent research. It is the best independent
research that has been conducted on the issues. It is research outside the vested
interests of unions, employer organisations, lawyers and those associated with
the jurisdiction. As we have read through the work, it does seem that the
academics involved went to quite some lengths to try to come up with neutral
questions and a methodology that was robust. In this area you are always going
to have to make certain assumptions about cost impacts, but I do not think we
should be preoccupied as to whether the methodology is exactly right, 10 per
cent out, 10 per cent too far one way or the other, or 20 per cent too far one
way or the other. It is within the ballpark, and I think it gives some frame of
reference for the committee to look at in terms of an independent academic
analysis of the issue.
... I accept that there are always going to be arguments about
methodology, but there is a thread of consistency in what the professor does
say about the unfair dismissal laws. Leaving aside the actual figures that he
uses or the actual number of jobs that he ultimately concludes, there is a thread
of consistency between the business surveys and this work.[15]
28. The committee majority rejects the notion that
surveys of small business attitudes to unfair dismissals are an insecure
foundation for policy and legislation. The surveys have been too numerous and
too consistent to be rejected as evidence of little value. An extensive summary
of attitudinal evidence, attached to the submission from DEWR, is reproduced as
an appendix to this report.
29. In summary, the committee majority reiterates
its support for the bill’s amendments to the Workplace Relations Act to reduce
the current burden of unfairness on small business in their defence of claims
against unfair dismissal. The committee majority has argued that the
circumstances of small business warrant special consideration, and a measure of
legislative protection. It affirms its view of the nexus between employment
growth in the small business sector and the elimination of processes which are
complex and encourage unmeritorious claims by some employees.
Toward a unitary industrial relations system
30. In recent years, the Government has been
exploring options for working towards a simpler, fairer workplace relations
system based on a more unified and nationally harmonised set of laws. This
debate has been supported by a great many stakeholders in industry, notably the
Australian Business Council, the Australian Industry Group and the Australian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A unitary system of industrial relations has
strong support among industrial and constitutional legal authorities, including
authorities who have long supported the claims and interests of unions and
employees. The committee consider that a that a national economy needs a
national workplace relations regulatory system; that maintaining six separate
industrial jurisdictions is not only inefficient, but excessively complex and
known to create confusion and uncertainty for employees and employers alike.
The committee majority considers that a more unified national workplace
relations system would result in less complexity, more certainty and lower
costs, with flow-on benefits for employment.
31. The committee majority notes the approval with
which a former assistant director of the Business Council of Australia quoted Sir
Anthony Mason’s views on the need for a unitary industrial relations system:
...we have a dual system of arbitration... that... has unnecessary
complexity and technicality. A dual system of courts is awkward enough....But
there is no justification for them in the world of industrial relations where
speed and simplicity of dispute resolution are, or should be, of the essence.
There is much to be said for the view that the Parliament should have powers
over industrial relations generally.[16]
By international standards, Australia has a relatively relaxed regime
of worker protection; a factor identified by the OECD as resulting in
consistent increases in the level of economic growth. Nonetheless, the OECD has
also commented that further industrial relations reform would be enhanced by
the ‘harmonisation of federal and state legislation’, not only to reduce
regulatory costs for businesses and governments, but also to avoid reforms of
the federal system being rolled back at the state level. The OECD also
identifies scope for reducing the disincentives on small businesses to hire
workers which arise from unfair dismissal legislation.[17]
32. It is estimated that the number of
employees covered under amendments proposed in this bill would increase from
approximately 3.9 million to around 6.8 million. Around 15 per cent of
employees, mostly working in unincorporated small businesses would remain
covered by state unfair dismissal systems. The Minister for Employment and
Workplace Relations has written to state workplace relations ministers asking
them to refer legislative power to the Commonwealth to establish a uniform
national unfair dismissal system. Apart from the practical logic of such an
arrangement, this proposal also recognizes that it may no longer be
cost-effective for states to maintain their own tribunal processes with such a
diminished workload.[18]
33. The committee majority concurs with
the Government’s view that there are major advantages in moving towards a
unified national system in a step-by-step approach. It is highly unlikely that
any agreement on the transfer of state powers, much less a constitutional
amendment, could be effected in anything less than ‘the long term’. Yet the
Government has the responsibility to take what expedient short-term measures it
can to ensure that workers and businesses operate efficiently and productively.
That means, as far as is constitutionally possible, one system of laws
governing unfair dismissal.
34. The gradual expansion of
Commonwealth powers, which has been a notable feature of constitutional evolution
since 1920[19]
should not leave Parliament complacent about the significance of any new
legislation which extends Commonwealth powers. Without exception the
submissions from state governments oppose the passage of this bill because it
is seen as an incursion on state powers. It is probably seen as ‘altering the
federal balance’, although it is unlikely that many members of this Parliament
see this concept as having much contemporary relevance. The committee notes the
submission from Professor George Williams in regard to this issue, which it quotes at length:
... it is clearly the responsibility of the federal Parliament to
enact laws for national needs. Our economy does not consist of discreet and
insular sectors of commerce within each State or even within Australia, but
exists within a world of global markets that creates competition and
interdependence with the economies of other nations. In order to compete
effectively on a global scale given our small population and geographical
location, Australia requires national laws on issues ranging from industrial
relations to consumer protection and trade practices. Australian businesses
operating in different States are less likely to be competitive if they must
comply with different, and possibly conflicting, standards across our nine
law-making jurisdictions. It can also be more difficult and costly for
employees to enforce their rights where more than one set of laws apply
(particularly where, as a result of the High Court decision in Re Wakim; Ex
parte McNally (Cross-vesting Case) (1999) 198 CLR 511, their
claims under federal and State law might not be heard in the same federal
court). As a matter of policy, a national unfair dismissal regime, or indeed a
national industrial relations regime, can be justified. This has been accepted
in the analogous area of corporations law, where a national scheme has operated
for over a decade. Furthermore, if there is to be a national scheme, it makes
sense for this to be the only scheme to apply to a particular claim. Hence, any
national scheme should be exclusive.
In addition, I cannot see any reason of principle why the
federal Parliament should not rely upon its full range of constitutional powers
to regulate industrial relations matters (although it may wish instead to
create a national co-operative scheme with the States and territories). There
is no reason why the federal Parliament should be limited to using its power in
section 51(xxxv) of the Constitution over ‘Conciliation and arbitration for the
prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the
limits of any one State’. In seeking to enact a national regime, it makes sense
for the Commonwealth to rely upon the full range of its legislative powers from
that over external affairs to that over corporations.[20]
35. The committee understands that states will
consider a joint appeal to the High Court in order to test the constitutional
validity of this legislation. Evidence before the committee suggests the strong
probability that a constitutional challenge is unlikely to succeed. While the
committee will not speculate about any legal outcome, it further notes the
views of Professor George Williams that the High Court has tended to take a
broad view of Commonwealth powers, in particular the corporations power, in
recent times.
Advantages of a single jurisdiction
36. The committee received a considerable amount of
evidence about confusion resulting from the complexity of multiple
jurisdictions. A high proportion of employers and employees are unaware of
whether they come under state or federal awards. They do not know from which
jurisdiction to seek redress or to which they should lodge an application. As a
result, injustices that the law has been established to rectify go un-remedied.
37. The committee majority was most interested to
note statistics, set out in the table below, obtained from DEWR showing the
extent of employer confusion about whether their employees were covered by
state or federal awards.
Unfair dismissal
coverage of full-time workers based on their employers’ perceptions of unfair
dismissal jurisdictional coverage – Businesses with fewer than 20 full-time
workers
Location
|
Mainly
covered by Commonwealth law
(% of
full-time workers in State/Territory) |
Mainly
covered by State law
(% of full-time workers in State/Territory) |
Covered
equally by State and Commonwealth law
(% of full-time workers in State/Territory) |
Don’t
know
(% of full-time workers in State/Territory) |
New South Wales
|
19.1
|
32.3
|
26.1
|
22.5
|
Victoria
|
23.6
|
24.6
|
27.5
|
24.6
|
Queensland
|
10.6
|
34.8
|
33.9
|
20.7
|
South Australia
|
12.1
|
33.6
|
34.2
|
20.2
|
Western Australia
|
4.7
|
31.8
|
24.8
|
38.6
|
Tasmania
|
17.9
|
34.5
|
21.3
|
26.3
|
Northern Territory
|
8.9
|
13.5
|
60.8
|
16.7
|
Australian Capital Territory
|
19.3
|
19.8
|
48.4
|
12.5
|
Australia
|
17.1
|
30.3
|
28.8
|
23.8
|
Source: Yellow Pages Business Index Survey, July 2002
38. It has been recommended to the committee by the
Selection of Bills Committee that it look at the effect of the bill on
procedures. There appears to be little doubt that all the effects are positive,
especially if, as seems inevitable following the passage of this bill, the
Government secures the referral of additional powers from the states to
takeover all unfair dismissal cases. In his submission to the committee, Professor
Keith Hancock cited the evidence of confusion among employers, and probably
employees as well, as a telling justification for an extension of Commonwealth
powers in regard to unfair dismissals. It would bring the added advantage of
developing consistent principles facilitated by the appeal procedures of the
AIRC.[21]
39. The committee has been advised of
other problems created by the existence of multiple unfair dismissal
jurisdictions including that, from time to time, employers may be faced with
the complexity of dealing with different unfair dismissal claims in different
jurisdictions involving different procedural requirements and possible
remedies. This can be the case even where the employer operates out of only one
state. As the President of the Commission has pointed out, it is not always
clear whether a particular jurisdiction is available and this means that there
are cases in which unnecessary transaction costs arise because of
jurisdictional uncertainties.[22]
These unnecessary costs are an unfair burden on the Government and on individual
litigants.[23]
40. The simplification of procedures
promised under the new legislation appears to the committee majority to be a
significant advantage. Under current arrangements, identical cases may be
handled differently just because they fall in different jurisdictions. The
inconsistent application of laws diminishes public confidence in judicial
processes. Jurisdictional questions also appear to take up a considerable
amount of court time, which is expensive.
41. The bill would provide a significant
step towards a unified national workplace relations system. As a result, the
complexity and confusion of unfair dismissal laws would be substantially
reduced for the majority of Australian employees and employers.
42. The committee majority recommends
that this bill be passed without amendment.
John Tierney
Chair
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