Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T05:38:23.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Command and Control in the Workplace: Agreement-Making under Work Choices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Sean Cooney*
Affiliation:
Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, University of Melbourne
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This article provides an overview of the radical changes in workplace agreement-making introduced by the ‘Work Choices’ amendments to the Workplace Relations Act. It outlines the six types of statutory workplace agreement and the procedures, termination rules and content requirements associated with them. While some agreement-making procedures have been simplified, this has come at the cost of independent oversight. Furthermore, the government's overall regulatory approach is shown to be prescriptive, punitive and one-sided. The article contrasts the new workplace agreements with contracts and observes that alternative regulatory frameworks could readily have been created, with greater respect for party autonomy.

Type
Work Choices: A Critical Analysis
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2006

References

Ayres, I. and Braithwaite, J. (1992) Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate, Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bardach, E. and Kagan, R. (1982) Going by the Book: The Problem of Regulatory Unreasonableness, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Collins, H. (1999) Regulating Contracts, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Creighton, W. and Stewart, A. (2005) Labour Law: an Introduction, Federation Press, Sydney, Fourth edition.Google Scholar
Dorf, M. and Sabel, C. (1998) ‘A Constitution of Democratic Experimentalism’, Columbia Law Review, 98: 267473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estlund, C. (2005) ‘Rebuilding the Law of the Workplace in an Era of Self-regulation’, Columbia Law Review, 105: 319404.Google Scholar
Fetter, J. and Mitchell, R. (2004) ‘The Legal Complexity of Workplace Regulation and Its Impact upon Functional Flexibility in Australian Workplaces’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, 17: 276305.Google Scholar
Howe, J. (2005) ‘Deregulation’ of Labour Relations in Australia: Toward Command and Control, Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, Working Paper No. 34.Google Scholar
Johnstone, R. and Mitchell, R. (2004) ‘Regulating Work’ In Parker, C. , Scott, C. , Lacey, N. , Braithwaite, J. (Eds.) Regulating Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Kollmorgen, S. and Maher, A. (2001) ‘Arbitration Restored: Dispute Resolution Under Certified Agreements’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, 14: 210214.Google Scholar
Lobel, O. (2005) ‘Orchestrated Experimentalism in the Regulation of Work’, Michigan Law Review, 101: 21462160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, R. Campbell, Barnes, A., Bicknell, E., Creighton, K. and Fetter, J. & Korman, S. (2005) What's Going on with the ‘No Disadvantage Test’?, Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, Working Paper No. 33.Google Scholar
Murray, J. (2005) ‘The AIRC Test Case on Work and Family Provisions: the End of Dynamic Regulatory Change at Federal Level?’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, 18: 325343.Google Scholar
Nossar, I., Johnstone, R. and Quinlan, M. (2004) ‘Regulating Supply Chains to Address the Occupational Health and Safety Problems Associated with Precarious Employment: The Case of Home-Based Clothing Workers in Australia’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, 17 (2): 124.Google Scholar
Ogus, A. (1994) Regulation: Legal Form and Economic Theory, Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Parker, C. (2002) The Open Corporation: Effective Self-Regulation and Democracy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, D. (2004) ‘To Be or Not to Be a Member — Is That the Only Question? Freedom of Association under the Workplace Relations Act’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, 17(1): 134.Google Scholar
Riley, J. (2005) Employee Protection at Common Law, Federation Press, Sydney.Google Scholar
Stewart, A. (2004) ‘The AIRC's Evolving Role in Policing Bargaining’, Australian Journal of Labour Law, 17: 245275.Google Scholar