The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has instructed supermarket chain Aldi to give warehouse workers clear finishing times for their shifts, a move expected to affect more than 1000 part-time employees.
Employers are unimpressed.
Aldi had applied for Enterprise Agreements (EAs) at warehouses in Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth. The FWC said these agreements did not give employees a clear indication of their working hours.
The FWC argued that workers at Aldi felt pressured to work overtime, leading to detrimental effects on their personal lives.
“While Aldi will lose some flexibility when the new agreements take effect, I do not consider the operational impact associated with that loss to outweigh the need to address the uncertainty,” FWC deputy president Tony Slevin said in his decision.
The national employer association, the Australian Industry Group (AIG), has criticised the decision, arguing that it will lead to higher costs for employers.
“The Fair Work Commission decision on Aldi demonstrates why industry was understandably worried about the problems that could flow from legislative changes giving significant new powers to rewrite enterprise agreement terms in a way that could result in more costly and rigid outcomes than were ever envisaged when an enterprise agreement was negotiated at the workplace,” Innes Willox, CEO of the Australian Industry Group, said.
AIG added that this was an example of the FWC wielding “new powers” without Aldi’s consent.
“Employers simply should not be subject to agreement terms that they have not actually agreed to. Any other approach risks exposing employers to unforeseen and potentially unsustainable operational consequences and costs,” Willox said.
“The decision highlights yet another damaging impact that recent changes to workplace relations laws are having on employers.”
Willox said that AIG will argue against the decision while calling for changes to “archaic” regulations.
“Ultimately, it will send a message to many employers that they may need to rethink the utility of agreeing to flexible part-time employment models that are intended to allow them to offer permanent employment opportunities in preference to casual employment,” he said.
“Sadly, the decision highlights the risks and difficulties employers face from trying to deliver flexible part-time working arrangements that many businesses need and that many employees want. The decision will have ramifications for other retailers and for employers in many other sectors.”
