Employee reward and benefits news
Employee benefits: Could Australia face return of WorkChoices?
Tony Abbott, leader of Australia's Liberal party, will look to reinstate a programme similar to WorkChoices if he is elected, a leading organisation has warned, which could see cuts to employee benefits.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has reported that the politician recently told a meeting of business executives that he will remove unfair dismissal protections from those working for small businesses.
He stated: "At four elections running we had a mandate to take the unfair dismissal monkey off the back of small business and we will once more seek that mandate."
Under the WorkChoices scheme, Australian employers had the power to put people on AWA contracts that allowed pay, conditions and employee benefits to be cut.
The ACTU reported that 70 per cent lost their shift loadings, nearly half lost their overtime loadings and one in four no longer had public holidays.
Earlier this week, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship backed an initiative designed to improve employee benefits for overseas workers.
