Can I talk to my employees without the union interfering?

Can the unions force me to accept things in an agreement which I can't afford?

Are the Unions going to 'ride roughshod' at my workplace?

The truth be known is that we have a new set of bargaining rules effective from the 1st July 2009 and a new set of Modern Awards from 1st January 2010 which in some cases is contributing additional costs to employing staff, but generally employers will be no worse off.  Where larger businesses have followed the 'yellow brick road' to Australian Workplace Agreements under the Howard government, the impact of modern awards will be minimal.  It will be the smaller businesses whose operating costs are closer to the bone which may potentially have more impact from the modern award system.  Though there will be flexibility clauses required in the Awards and all enterprise agreements as we move forward in many cases the issues of rates of pay and penalty rates need to be carefully looked at.

Businesses that will be impacted most will be those who have poor management and communication practices in place.  Now more than ever it will be the company whose management try to bully and mistreat their workforce who will feel the effects of a possible union backlash.  It will be in these workplaces that union membership will continue to grow and once a workforce becomes unionised it is unlikely to change.  For those with unionised workforces there will be a greater emphasis on working with them with the Good Faith Bargaining principles applying to all those involved in the process.

Lets face it the 'Good Faith" bargaining principle is a very grey area which employers need to be aware of.  Having a history in the US and legislative roots in NZ these principles need to be carefully scrutinised as you get into the bargaining arena.  No longer can we say 'the company cannot afford that increase' to an ambit wage claim, and get away with it.  It's possible a statement like this could lead employers to disclosing their balance sheet and financial information to substantiate such a statement.  Bargaining in good faith requires all parties to do so in a manner that is honest, timely, and well considered.

AND don't be fooled by the protection provision of not having to reach agreement.  Lets face it we enter into a bargaining situation with the intention of coming to an agreement.  So in my considered view there is clear inference of coming to an agreement and if we don't then maybe we haven't bargained in good faith.  An ever changing shade of grey I suggest will keep us busy and arguing semantics way too much.

Any managers focus should be on workforce productivity.  It is the working relationship which will drive employee engagement and productivity and not the legal employment onus.  Employees want to know they will be paid for the work they do, have a safe place to work, and that there is a future.  Wrap a robust and honest communication plan around these three things and you are well on the way to a productive, engaged workplace culture.
 
 
If you would like further information on this article, or would like to discuss what it means for your business, please feel free to call me on 0432 822 667 or email me at colin@visionarysolutions.net.au
 
 
Colin Shaw
Visionary Solutions
www.visionarysolutions.net.au