Increased power to sack workers

Increased power to sack workers

By James Vassilopoulos

@box text intro = Peter Reith, the minister of industrial relations, is threatening to introduce new legislation to completely exempt small businesses from unfair dismissal laws if the Senate disallows government regulations to partially exempt small business.

The regulation before the Senate allows small businesses with less than 15 employees to sack workers in their first year, without being accountable to the unfair dismissal laws. This would give small businesses open slather to sack workers, when many workers feel insecure about their jobs.

The government's Workplace Relations Act, which came into effect on January 1, has already modified the unfair dismissal legislation. Now the onus of proof lies with workers and the grounds for unfair dismissal have been reduced.

From GLW issue 277