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Fair Work Amendment (Tackling Job Insecurity) Bill 2012

Introduced into the House of Representatives on 26 November 2012
By: Mr Bandt

1.1        The bill amends the Fair Work Act 2009 to provide a process for an employee who is on a casual or rolling contract to ask their employer to move to secure employment (that is, ongoing part-time or full-time employment with paid leave entitlements). If an employer refuses a request from an eligible employee, the employee (or their union), may make an application to Fair Work Australia who may issue a ‘secure employment order’ under certain circumstances.

Compatibility with human rights

1.2        The bill is accompanied by a self-contained statement of compatibility, which addresses its relevance to the right to just and favourable conditions of work (article 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the right to non-discrimination on the grounds of sex in relation to work (article 11 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Right to just and favourable conditions of work

1.3        The statement of compatibility states that the bill will promote the enjoyment of article 7(d) of the ICESCR, which provides:

The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work, which ensure, in particular:

(d) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays.

Right to non-discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to work

1.4        The statement of compatibility also notes that the right to non-discrimination on the ground of sex in relation to employment contained in article 11 of the CEDAW Convention (and also protected by articles 2(2), 3 and 7 of the ICECSR) may also be promoted by the bill. This is because women ‘are more likely to be in insecure employment than men – 27% of all female employees do not have paid leave entitlements compared to 20.5% of male employees’.[1]

1.5                 The committee considers that the bill does not appear to give rise to significant human rights issues, though notes that the proposed power to order employers to provide particular forms of employment contract may affect the rights of employers to organise their business and enjoy the use of their property (the right to property is not as such explicitly included in the human rights treaties that fall within the committee’s mandate).

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