Labor to introduce bill banning pay secrecy rules, leaves door open for action on multi-employer bargaining

The federal government will next week introduce an industrial relations reform bill it hopes will drive wage growth and secure fairer working conditions, moving quickly on commitments it made at the recent Jobs and Skills Summit.

On Wednesday, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke announced the proposed Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill will target factors the government believes are suppressing wages.

“For a decade [workers] had a government that deliberately kept their wages low and did nothing to close the loopholes that have made Australian jobs less secure,” Burke said.

“That has left people struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living has gone up.”

Chief among the proposed tweaks are measures the government believes will close the gender pay gap, which sees men out-earn women across all working age groups.

It will make workplace gender equity a cornerstone of the Fair Work Act, a move that will influence how the Fair Work Commission rules on pay decisions in the modern awards system.

The Fair Work Commission will also gain two new expert panels focused on pay equity and the community care sector, respectively, given what the government sees as the chronic undervaluation of workers in female-dominated professions.

On top of new tools allowing the Fair Work Commission to mandate pay bumps for female workers in traditionally low-paid industries, the proposed bill will also nix the ability for employers to ban workers from discussing their remuneration.

“These clauses have long been used to conceal gender pay discrepancies,” Burke said.

“Banning them will improve transparency, reduce the risk of gender pay discrimination and empower women to ask their employers for pay rises.”

Burke said the government will “announce further measures” in the days to come, raising the possibility of further significant industrial relations reforms.

The Age reports such additions could include amendments allowing multi-employer bargaining, a move that could allow employees to strike deals with multiple similar businesses at once.

That measure was proposed ahead of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA).

They argued the enterprise bargaining system is currently too arduous and costly to navigate for both employees and small employers, keeping staff from upgrading their working conditions and undermining the government’s focus on boosting wages.

However, other business representatives have strongly opposed the measure, claiming it could expose employers to a new tide of industrial action.

In its pre-budget submission, released Tuesday, COSBOA maintained its support for amendments to Australia’s industrial relations system but did not specifically advocate for multi-employer bargaining.

Labor indicated its support for the measure after the summit, but opened the floor to consultation from industry groups.