The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Fair Work Act 2009 - Essay Example

? THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE FAIR WORK ACT 2009 By Lecturer: of Affiliation: and The strengths and weaknesses of the Fair Work Act 2009 Introduction The Fair Work Act 2009 is an act that was created to ensure that there is a balanced agenda for productive and joint relations in the place of work in order to advance national economic prosperity and social aspects for all citizens (CCH Australia Limited, 2011, p. 17). The Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) is a new workplace relations system that was put in place in order to allow employees and employers to collectively bargain for fair work agreements. The FW Act was implemented to balance the needs of workers, employers and the unions. The act focuses on the key parts such as the employment standards of a nation, contemporary awards in the workplace, industrial action, minimum wages, unfair dismissal, office fair work and enterprise agreements. Organisations exists for a purpose but regardless of particular resource in an organisation, HR managers play significant roles in the organisation and they are the key ingredients for organisation success. HR manager controls and manages financial resources, people and other aspects; thus a number of varied things should be taken into considerations in order to transform the nature of work and workplaces in which they are performed. Among these aspects is making significant amendments to industrial relation systems; thus employing more innovative HRM practices such as communicating clearly about organizational policies is vital. The strengths of the Fair Work Act 2009 The aim of the FW Act is to offer a balanced framework for productive and supportive workplace relations, which promotes state economic prosperity and social aspects for all Australians (Harpur, 2012, 190). Under this act, employees and employers may bargain collectively to make enterprise agreements in respect of the terms and conditions of employment. The FW Act offer an effective bargaining process in the workplace and this is where agreements between bargaining representatives who represent employers and employees bargain in good faith in order to come to an agreement. Mondy, Noe and Gowan (2005, p. 45) point out that the essential function of the HRM in an organisation is to create and maintain a productive, as well as, a healthy and safe working environment for all stakeholders. The core activities of the human resource manager include offering job analysis, recruitments, retaining employees, and recruiting, training or compensating employees. Regardless of the size of an organisation, HRM should perform their work well by managing and improving the skills of employees in order to create successful organizational performance. These activities take place within a framework of legislation that establishes minimum standards and prospects regarding acceptable behavior in a business entity (Briscoe, Schuler and Claus, 2009, p. 32). The FW Act has been wholly operational since the commencement of the year 2010 and it substituted the workplace relation or work choices amendment Act of 2005 (Manuel and Law Society of South Australia, 2009, p. 51). The FW Act is imperative because it enables employees to adjust the employment costs, workforces or flexible working hours to suit subdued demand (Sloan, 2010, p. 19). Employers in some sectors are concerned with modern awards in the workplace and unfair dismissals while others are concerned with the federal minimum wage; thus the FW Act is vital in the workplace. Many organisations such as the Australian organisations faced turbulent business and economic issues during the 1970s but the implementation of the FW Act 2009 has created significant changes on the way organisation perform their functions in the contemporary business world. The FW Act offer flexibility in the workplace and this is significant because it contributes to increased productivity in the workplace. Offering work flexibility is one of the significant aspects that have enabled many human resource managers to manage their work related and other business activities; thus contributing to successful business performance. The FW Act is vital because it offer flexibility for working hours and this contributes to better and improved work productivity in the business. Many human resource managers nowadays offer work flexibility to employees in the workplace and many of them use workplace flexibility as a vehicle for improving recruitment, retention and for managing workload, as well as, responding to employee diversity. The research study carried out reveals that flexibility can improve employee engagement and job satisfaction, as well as, reduce also work stress (Bukarica, Dallas and Bukarica, 2012, p. 87). The turnover is expensive especially in the contemporary labor market; thus retaining valued employees in the workplace is imperative. The strength of FW Act is that this act offer flexible work solutions for low wage hourly employees in a business entity or any workplace. The release of workplace flexibility that began to work in the year 2010 has enabled many employees to achieve better job satisfaction; thereby improving the organizational turnover. Wells (2009, p. 2) argues that there are clear links between job satisfaction and employee turnover in the workplace; thus the FW Act plays significant roles in many business entities in the contemporary business world. Some studies link employee satisfaction with customer retention; thus human resource managers should clearly define policies and practices in the workplace. This is through determining the flexible work options that can create or improve the performance of workforce. Achieving successful and equitable workforce flexibility in the workplace is a shared responsibility that requires human resource managers to develop and communicate clear about the organizational policies or guidelines. The HR manager should be knowledgeable about policies and promote workforce flexibility in order to help employees accomplish their work successfully. In addition, the FW Act offer flexible work arrangements and this has benefited not only employees but also employers; thus contributing to increased employee turnover. Flexible work arrangements have become common in the contemporary working environment. Although many HR managers were critical to this Act in some aspects, the Act has benefited many employees because it offered them the right to request for flexible work arrangements. More than one or two employees in the workplace request for flexible work arrangements such as part time work, working from home, maternity leave, core work hours and among others. The increased technology advancement has contributed to varied changes in the working environment; thus work flexibility is more common in the contemporary workplaces than in the past work places; for instance, technology has made it easier for employers or employees to work from home. This is vital because it can contribute to mutual trust and employees can improve their knowledge, skills and manage their own time; thus increasing productivity. Therefore, employers should create mutual trust and provide support to their employees where necessary to enable them to accomplish organizational objectives. With FW Act, successful employers should adopt HR management practices that are above the legal minima to continue providing better working arrangements because this will enable them to remain competitive in the competitive global business environment. The FW Act was implemented by the Australian government with the aim of protecting or safeguarding the interests of employees. The Fair Work Act has been altered since the year 1970 to the year 2010 on the way it functions. This act offer comparison for the labor laws in Australia in regard to the evolution of labor laws in other countries; thus the FW Act is significant in the business environment. This is because the process takes into considerations in case the system is operating effectively in order to meet the needs of Australian workers, and the needs of employers, as well as, those of the nation as a whole. The nature of the Australian economy has changed because of the increased technology advancement; thus, the Australian economy needs a workplace relation system, which reflects the changing nature of their employees, workplaces and the economy. Therefore, the workplace relation system that reflects the changing nature of the economy is vital for the growth of an economy. Most employers and employees face varied challenges in the work place; thus the need for labor market setting act that will enable them to meet their demanding needs. The strength of the FW Act is that it focuses on labor relation with an aim of improving better workplace environment; thus enabling the business entities to compete successful with their competitors; thus achieving successful economic growth. The Australian economy is blessed with varied fundamental aspects that have enabled the country to improve their economic growth. The future of the Australian economy is determined by their capacity to compete successful in the competitive business world; thus wages are growing in line with increased productivity. Therefore, there is a need for the policy settings right to ensure that the country remains competitive in the global market; thus enabling them to take advantage of significant opportunities vital for achieving economic growth. One of these policy settings includes the implementation of the workplace relations system but this should extend beyond to other labor market institutions. This is vital because it will enable business organisation to improve performance in the global competitive market. The FW Act centers on intense thrilling of efficiency in the economy because the FW Act reflects on the fact that it is the only sustainable way of increasing living standards of people in a nation. Harpur (2012, p. 190) argues that the level of risk for employers and investors connected with the labor market has increased; thus the need for policy implementation that can create conducive working environment. The shortages of skilled people or expertise in some sectors, increasing industrial disturbances and volatile outcomes in settling agreements is impacting most foreign investors in regard to the projections of performing successful business activities. Moreover, the level of risk to business projects are arising and some of these risks relate to the sheer scale of the projects; thus the main factor feeding those aspect are linked to the labor market. Therefore, the FW Act is imperative in this case because it provides significant guidelines vital for successful performance in the labor market. FW Act maintains a safety net of contemporary award of wages in the workplace and conditions facilitating bargaining in the workplace, approval of enterprise agreements, settling industrial disputes and taking industrial actions. These are among the significant functions that the FW Act plays in the contemporary business environment; thus contributing to smooth running of business activities. Many disputes arise in the workplaces such as bargaining disputes, unfair dismissal issues and among other industrial work related disputes; thus the FW Act plays significant roles in the settling these disputes. The tribunal solves much of the case loads arising in many workplaces by focusing on the interest to rights by conciliation without recourse to arbitration. Therefore, the FW Act is crucial because it enables human resource managers to solve complex cases that might be difficult to be solved in the workplace; hence HR managers should communicate clearly about this act to create awareness in the workplace. The weakness of the Fair Work Act 2009 One of the weaknesses is that the FW Act makes it difficult on the negotiations of employment contracts or legal instruments; thus impacting effective business operations. There are varied aspects about the relationship between human resource management practices and industrial relation in an organisation. According to Briscoe, Schuler and Claus (2009, p. 72), industrial relation systems and their policies interfere with effective HRM practices or even prevent HR management theories being employed in an organisation because the objectives of workers and employees are so dissimilar. However, many organisations realize that in case they manage their employees in a manner that satisfy both organizational objectives and employees demands; therefore, there is no need to negotiate with industrial unions. As a result, the FW Act is viewed at time as hindrance towards effective organizational management activities because of legal issues which may create an obstacle in the business operations. The Act has also made employment arrangements more complex and difficult to manage in the contemporary business environment. Flexible work arrangements have become more common in the contemporary working environment since the introduction of the FW Act 2009 but this act has not only provided diverse benefits but it has contributed to complex and difficult to manage workforce in the working environment. The human resources practitioner report that was released by the Australia HR management institute painted a generally negative picture towards the FW Act policy. The report revealed that more than three quarters of the HR practitioners believe that FW Act has contributed to increased aspects for seeking legal advice, which is costly and time consuming. Therefore, some of the HR practitioners view FW Act as the hindrance to effective business operation or performance in their workplace. Wells (2009, p. 1) argues that since work flexibility is the key feature of the FW Act 2009, employer control over flexible working hours through individual flexibility agreements in contemporary wage awards and business agreements are to the detriment of workforce access to genuine flexibility. Moreover, flexibility for working hours is achieved at accost to the earnings of employee particularly to women and other professionals such as nurses. The workforce access to flexible working hours arise from the national employment standards rights to appeal provisions are unenforceable, narrow in application and limited in provision. This least workforce access to flexible working hours is supplementary by promotional of individual flexibility contracts (Wells, 2009, p. 2). The main challenge of the FW Act is coming to agreement terms with the changing nature of the Australian economy because of the ever changing business world and the FW Act has made workplace disputes more difficult to solve. The workforce, workplaces and the performance of the FW Act is offering varied changes; thus there is a need for more analysis in examining the provisions of the Act by recognizing the impact of the legislation in the workplace culture and behavior. Manuel and Law Society of South Australia (2009, p. 32) point out that the major gaps in the FW Act are the failure to address workplace inequity particularly in small business environment, lack of support for worker participation and voice mechanisms. Though, a case has been completed for the inclusion of such systems in governmental public employment standards. Since the FW Act has some weakness, unions should not expect too much from legislation but they should rather invest in the pursuit of the sort of community alliance. This is vital because community alliances will after all offer them a restoration of industrial relations or work choices which are untenable. The work flexibility has been offered by the FW Act as the most common prescriptive approach to offering a balance between work and life for labor force. However, the main weakness for this policy is that not occupations are same because it is common to experience work without boundaries in some societies. Some occupations such as self-employed professional, academicians, physicians can work for long hours and this might contribute to work-family conflict. Time flexibility has been provided and included in the FW Act policy as one of the significant aspects but there are some problems that may arise in some sectors of work; thus coping up with such work and domestic responsibilities remain still a problem. This is especially to those employees with caring responsibilities especially nurses or women who take the house core roles. Moreover, whatever happens when the work environment is flexible is still a rhetoric question because it is not clearly defined if work flexible is enough to partially resolve work-family conflicts. The research study was conducted in order to determine the way professionals manage the work-family issues and the study focused only the way work can contribute to work-family conflicts (Kuschel Rietzsch, 2011, p. 34). From the research survey, it was found out that some professors have more than one job and this leads to heavy workload; thus contributing to work-family conflicts. The work overload had a devastating impact on work-family and well-being, as well as, it contributes to work stress. Conclusion In conclusion, the project focused on the strength and weakness of the FW Act of 2009; the aim of the FW Act is to offer a balanced framework for productive and supportive workplace relations, which promotes state economic prosperity and social aspects for all Australians. The FW Act offer flexibility in the workplace and this is significant because it contributes to increased productivity in the workplace. The Act was implemented by the Australian government with the aim of protecting or safeguarding the interests of employees. The strength of FW Act is that this Act offer flexible work solutions for low wage hourly employees, offer flexible work arrangement and maintains a safety net of current award of wages in the workplace, and it also offer conditions facilitating bargaining in the workplace, approval of enterprise agreements, settling industrial disputes and taking industrial actions. However, the weakness of the FW Act is that it makes the negotiations of employment contracts or legal instruments more difficult. Employment arrangements are more complex and difficult to manage, arriving to agreement terms is also difficult due to the ever changing business world and the FW Act has made workplace disputes more difficult to solve. References Bukarica, A., Dallas, A., & Bukarica, 2012. Good faith bargaining under the Fair Work Act 2009: Lessons from the collective bargaining experience in Canada and New Zealand. Annandale, N.S.W: Federation Press. Briscoe, D. R., Schuler, R. S., & Claus, L. M. 2009. International Human Resource Management: Policies And Practices For Multinational Enterprises. London: Routledge. CCH Australia Limited. 2011. Australian Fair Work Act 2009: With Regulations and Rules. Sydney: CCH Australia. Harpur, P. 2012, 'Australia's Fair Work Act And The Transformation Of Workplace Disability Discrimination Law', Wisconsin International Law Journal, 30, p. 190. Kuschel Rietzsch, K 2011, 'The Work-Family Interface in a Flexible Workplace: How Academics Deal with Workload and Family/Home Demands', TDX Mondy, R. W., Noe, R. M., & Gowan, M. 2005. Human Resource Management. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Manuel, R., & Law Society of South Australia. (2009). Fair Work Act 2009: Unfair Dismissal, Redundancy and Transfer. Adelaide: Law Society of South Australia. Wells, J. 2009. Flexible Work in 2010 – the impact of the Fair Work Act 2009 on Employer Control Of, And Employee Access To, Flexible Working Hours, IIRA World Congress, p. 1-10. Sloan, J. 2010, 'Evaluating the Fair Work Act', Policy, 26, 4, pp. 19-24 Read More