COSBOA, ACTU agree to four-point industrial relations reform agenda ahead of Jobs Summit

Australia’s small business sector and union representatives have agreed on a four-point priority plan for the Jobs and Skills Summit, declaring a common interest in simplifying the industrial relations system for workers and employers outside of big business.

In a joint statement, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) on Monday said they will both champion updates to workplace relations at the September conference.

The groups will pursue “new laws to deliver workplace arrangements that are customised for small businesses that benefit owners and employees”, the statement said.

Despite representing two sides of the employment divide, COSBOA and the ACTU have “always had a good connection and relationship,” COSBOA chair and director Matthew Addison told SmartCompany.

“We don’t always agree on things, but this has been a long time in the making, and the Jobs and Skills Summit has brought together an opportunity to formally recognise the connection and discussions.

“[We’re] looking forward to working together on key elements of workplace relations reform.”

Collaboration at Jobs and Skills Summit with four-point agenda

The ability for small businesses to “correctly embrace” the industrial relations system sits atop their four-point agenda.

Industry groups, including COSBOA, have long argued that it is too difficult for small business owners to navigate today’s employment law landscape and implement the right settings in their business.

“The current bargaining system was not built for us, it is not efficient and is too complicated,” COSBOA CEO Alexi Boyd said in a statement.

On the flip side, unions are concerned the industrial relations system is no longer fit for purpose, hampering enterprise bargaining agreements and keeping workers from negotiating deals which could improve their pay and conditions.

“The employees of small businesses, and their owners, should be able to access the same benefits from bargaining that bigger businesses have enjoyed,” said ACTU secretary Sally McManus.

Second on the agenda is the push for a simpler Better Off Overall Test (BOOT), the mechanism ensuring any new enterprise agreement leaves its workers with improved conditions.

The BOOT came under scrutiny in 2020 when the Morrison government championed its IR ‘omnibus’ bill which would have temporarily overridden the test for employers seriously impacted by COVID-19.

However, widespread opposition to the amendments meant the ‘omnibus’ bill passed in a heavily amended form — and without overarching changes to the BOOT.

“What we’re looking for is a version of the BOOT that allows employers and employees to agree on how to be ‘better off’ and [how] that will still be acceptable to the system,” Addison said.

“So we’re not saying that the BOOT is entirely wrong, but we are saying that it needs development for 2022 and beyond.”

While representing two sides of the employer-employee divide, COSBOA and the ACTU last year teamed up to support a formal pathway for long-term casual employees to switch to permanent employment, one of the other elements enshrined on the ‘ombinus’ proposal.

Notably, those changes to casual employment rules were one of the only original elements of the bill to pass into law.

COSBOA and the ACTU have also called for new options around “flexibility” in the workplace, further reflecting the need for rules which work for employers and employees alike.

Such concerns speak to the rise of gig economy work, a relatively new development with which Australia’s industrial relations system is struggling to keep pace.

And the groups want “new options around collective bargaining which include multi-employer agreements” — a move which business advocates claim could make it easier for small employers to band together while negotiating with employees, instead of navigating the process alone.

By calling for “multi-employer agreements”, the statement also represents a compromise from the ACTU, which initially pushed for sector-wide bargaining, a move it claims would have allowed workers across a myriad of small businesses engage with the enterprise bargaining system at scale.

“We welcome the opportunity to explore new flexible single or multi-employer options that can be customised to our circumstances,” Boyd said.

“The one size fits all approach doesn’t work.”

Currently, the system requires “a lot of time and it’s very complex,” Addison said.

“So what we’re hoping that this concept of single or multi employer agreements, opens up discussion and development of a IR system that small business can engage with.”

Big business collaboration also on the cards

Beyond the agreement with COSBOA, the ACTU today revealed a separate statement of common interests, penned with industry groups representing bigger businesses.

Together with the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), and the Business Council of Australia, the union group said state and federal governments should:

• Quickly establish and empower Jobs and Skills Australia to provide advice on the future skills needed by the national economy;
• Commit to sustainable funding increases for the Vocational Education and Training system;
• Use the October federal budget to boost funding for the apprenticeship system, including boosts to wage subsidies and completion bonuses for workers and employers alike;
• Overhaul fundamental skills programs to ensure digital literacy for all Australians; and
• Support “lifelong learning” by supporting those who choose to upskill and encouraging forward-thinking training programs.

“This joint statement is a powerful demonstration by peak business and union organisations that there is a genuine willingness to work together where we share common ground,” ACCI CEO Andrew McKellar said.

The Jobs and Skills Summit kicks off in Canberra on September 1.