Government gears up for unfair dismissal battle

Are you getting ready for the reintroduction of unfair dismissal laws on 1 July? The Federal Government is. And they are obviously expecting a big rise in disputes between employers and employees.

Two days ago there was an advertisement in The Australian Financial Review for 30 counsellors to be paid between $101,000 and $127,000 and to be employed full time by Fair Work Australia from May. Their duties consist primarily of the conciliation and mediation of unfair dismissal applications with the meetings to be over the telephone or face-to-face.

Skills needed are human resource management, high level analytical, workplace relations law, organisational ability and mediation/negotiation skills. You don’t even need qualifications in these areas as the job description states that practical experience is OK. You’ll also need professional ethics, initiative and an ability to work to deadlines and work as part of a team.

The Government has been telling us that the introduction of these laws would be smooth. Now it appears they are going to need 30 highly-paid counsellors (and that’s just for starters) to sort out disputes.

Actually, the job description sounds like the skill set of a successful entrepreneur to me.

In fact, how tempting is that? A nine-to-five job, with great security, earning over $100,000 and all the perks of the public service? You’ll have none of the stress that you currently have managing a business, creating jobs and trying to maintain them during this recession. And the pay packet is enviable…most business owners would not be receiving anything near that amount.

And probably the biggest perk of the job? No threat of unfair dismissal claims at a time when business owners desperately need flexible work practices to get their business through the recession. Any takers?