New industrial laws, which come into effect today, risk economic productivity, according to the Business Council of Australia.
Business Council Chief Executive Bran Black said the changes, including the new right to disconnect and the new definition of a casual employee, would hamper the economy.
“The significant changes to workplace laws, starting on Monday, risk holding Australia’s historically low productivity back even further at a time when the economy is already stalling,” Mr Black said.
“These laws put Australia’s competitiveness at risk by adding more cost and complexity to the challenge of doing business, and that means less investment and fewer job opportunities.
“At a time when productivity has flatlined and insolvencies are increasing, we can’t risk making it harder to do business with added red tape.”
Mr Black said the new changes, which come on top of the raft of recent changes that were already in place, including intractable bargaining and same job, same pay, risked placing more pressure on businesses.
“I hear constantly from businesses large and small that the burden of increased workplace red tape is harder and harder to bear.
“We want to see more workplace arrangements set at the enterprise level to drive productivity and lift participation, and less heavy-handed government intervention with a one-size-fits-all approach that simply creates more red tape, rule complexity and cost.”
Explore the changes that are now in effect.
