The Modern AwardWhere to after the Equal Pay case

Michael Pegg

QCOSS Conference

August 2011

Outline

• Industrial environment – The Fair Work System

• Awards & agreements• Queensland referral• Conditions, change management and people management

– Pay equity cases (state & federal)

• Industrial options for the future• Awards• Bargaining• Other workplace strategies

• Strategic HRM for the sector

The Hierarchy of Conditions

National Employment Standards (NES)

Modern award

(Qld – Transitional Pay Equity Order if applicable)

Enterprise agreement

Contract of

employment

HR policies

Other sources of conditions

• Contracts– Employment contracts typically set out conditions

specific to employee (eg job title, specific hours)

– Contracts cannot cut award or NES conditions

• Policies– Deal with matters not covered by NES or awards

– Explain how NES and awards are implemented

• Enterprise agreements– Better off overall test

Queensland referral

• For the nonprofit community services sector, from 2006, only constitutional trading corporations able to be covered by the federal Workplace Relations Act

• Some nonprofit community organisations that were not trading corporations were covered by state awards

• In 2009 Qld referred its IR system to the Commonwealth:– State awards preserved until February 2011

Queensland referral

• Old state awards replaced by modern awards from February 2011

• Protection of pay equity outcomes a condition of referral

• Pay equity increases in QCSCA and Disability Support Workers awards are preserved and– override modern award rates if higher

– For DSW award, override NAPSA rates for phasing if higher

Threshold Issue

• You need to know: were you were a federal system employer?– Usually covered by a federal award pre 2010 (eg

SACS Qld, CASH Qld, DSW NAPSA)

• or a state system employer?– Covered by a state award (eg QCSCA, DSW state

awards)

Different timetables apply during

January 2010 – June 2011

Which old awards are replaced?

Old award Current Conditions Current pay rates

SACS (Qld), CASH (Qld) SCHCADS SACS (Qld), CASH (Qld)

Qld Community Services & Crisis Assistance state award

SCHCADS QCSCA pay equity rates

Disability Support Workers NAPSA

SCHCADS NAPSA

Disability Support Workers state award

SCHCADS DSW pay equity rates (because higher than NAPSA)

SCHCADS – Current pay

• Pre-modern SACS Q or CASH Q?

• Full QCSCA Transitional Pay Equity Order (TPEO) rates?– Because covered by QCSCA in 2008

– Because supplemented by Qld Gov’t

– Because policy decision

• Part of the higher QCSCA rates?– Because only partially supplemented

– Because policy but unfunded

TPEO RegulationOctober 2011

• Governor General signed on 4 August 2011

• 316 Prescibed employers

– Funded by Qld Govt

– Not originally bound by QCSCA

• Now required to pay TPEO rates from 1/10/11

• And backpay current and past employees to 1 Jan 2010

TPEO backpay

• Backpay in 4 annual instalments from 1/10/11

• Balance payable if employee terminates prior to 2014

Year % backpay

1 October 2011 35%

1 October 2012 30%

1 October 2013 20%

1 October 2014 15%

Support for Prescribed Employers

• QCOSS & NDS funded by Qld Government to assist employers affected by TPEO regulation

• Jobs Australia engaged to provide IR expertise

• 11 workshops planned across Qld

• 1800 PAYLINEQ (from 11 Aug)

• Ongoing support

• Pay tool to be developed

• Funding…????

National Equal Pay Case

• Fair Work Australia has found that gender is an important factor in pay inequity in the SACS sector

• Anticipate decision re pay increases in Sept/Oct 2011

• Qld TPEO preserved where applicable (unless

national case has higher rates)

Future Options

What are our objectives?

Why the fuss about wages ahead of other management issues?

Wages Gap

Comparison of wage movements for new graduate commencing at Level 3.4 in SACS Qld award, with new graduate commencing at Professional Officer Level 2.1 State Government Departments Certified Agreement 2006.

2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

SACS Q

QPS

Awards and Bargaining

• Fair Work system promotes bargaining

• So why haven’t we bargained for competitive wages in the past?

– Funding!

– And other resources needed

Bargaining options

• Workplace level– $$ ??

– Time and effort

• Low Paid Bargaining– Force funders to the table

– One time only

• Multi-employer bargaining– Potential efficiencies

– Harder than it looks!

Tripartite options?

• Federal – Community Sector Wages group

– Implementing Equal Pay outcome

– Community sector employers, unions and state and federal governments represented

• Agreed bargaining frameworks?

– To guide funded workplace bargaining, or

– For funded multi-employer deals

Management Objectives?

• Deliver the organisation’s mission– Committed, high performance workforce

– Workers efforts aligned with strategic objectives

• Requires– Sophisticated management of the employment

relationship

– Meet employee needs ($, work life balance, job content, career path)

– Balanced with organisational needs (performance, flexibility)

Effective nonprofit organisationsL. Parkes, Jobs Australia Conference 2006 (VOICE project, Macquarie University)

Key drivers

• Purpose, participation & perceived effectiveness

Strengths

• Employee engagement

• Organisationalpurpose

• Learning & development, performance appraisal

Challenges

• Career paths, rewards

Why do HRM?

Organisational strategy, management

and values

Organisational performance

Employee

Wages

• Wage setting processes: a means to an end

• Seek optimum balance

– To recruit and retain workers matched to organisational objectives

– To foster engagement and high performance

Possible non wage issues

• Career path

– Job content & variety

– Professional development and training

• Workloads (and leave management?)

• Job security

– Short term funding

– Contracts and redundancy

• Work life balance