The Naked Ape

You couldn’t have scripted a more ironic or fitting end to Work Choices legislation than having the Health Services Union receive a determination that it is within its rights to terminate a number of employees. The Health Services Union would be unable to terminate those same employees now because the definition of a small business has dramatically changed.

The story, as reported by the Australian is that:

“The Australian Industrial Relations Commission ruled on Monday that the Health Services Union was within its rights to dismiss three employees because it had fewer than 100 staff, the trigger point for unfair dismissal coverage under Work Choices.”

In contrast, as of today, the new laws introduced by the Rudd government, all employees will be protected by unfair dismissal after six months' employment, or 12 months in the case of a small business with fewer than 15 employees.

The new industrial relations regime has trouble written all over it. I’m confident to make the prediction that labour market issues will, again, be a major issue in Australian politics at the next election.