MBA calls for contractual clarity
The Master Builders Association says changes from the Fair Work Commission’s Modern Award Review have not helped clear anything up for workers or small business operators.
Master Builders say an individual or small company in the construction sector should be able to understand the basic safety-net conditions that underpin their employment, but Fair Work is not making it easy.
Master Builders Chief Executive Officer, Wilhelm Harnisch says: “The Commission’s decision provides only a fraction of the clarity needed to make this key award workable for the industry. A user-friendly modern award remains a distant prospect.”
According to MBA the review of the Building and Construction General On-Site Award in 2010 showed the sheer complexity confronting building and construction industry employers and employees when faced with interpreting the modern award safety net, but three years on and it has not become any easier.
An agreement was reached in 2012 to redefine the meaning of ‘ordinary hours’ for calculating some daily-hire contracts. Master Builder say the snail’s pace of progress on that one change indicates the sluggishness of the entire system.
“Dauntingly for employers, the lack of progress in simplifying the building and construction modern award means that issues fundamental to the operation of the building and construction industry must now be reviewed during the Commission’s 2014 Modern Award Review,” Mr Harnisch said, “in particular, all of the allowances under the award must be addressed so they are relevant and applicable to the industry’s operation... reform of the law by government should make it a priority that documents like modern awards do not require a law degree to interpret them.”