Minimum labour standards enforcement in Australia : caught in the crossfire?

The complex transition from convict to free labour influenced state intervention in the employment relationship, and initiated the first minimum labour standards in Australia in 1828. Since then, two principal sets of tensions have affected the enforcement of such standards: tensions between government and employers, and tensions between the major political parties over industrial and economic issues. This article argues that these tensions have resulted in a sustained legacy affecting minimum labour standards’ enforcement in Australia. The article outlines broad historical developments and contexts of minimum labour standards’ enforcement in Australia since 1828, with more contemporary exploration focusing specifically on enforcement practices and policies in the Australian federal industrial relations jurisdiction. Current enforcement practices are an outcome of this volatile history, and past influences remain strong.

Enforcing minimum labour standards in Australia from 2010 : correcting or compounding problems

Fair Work Australia is to provide the institutional framework for the Australian industrial relations system from January 2010. Its creation provides the opportunity to improve minimum labour standards’ enforcement in Australia. However, the experience of the past must be appreciated and traditional assumptions about the operation of the Australian enforcement system discarded if the new institution is to be effective in its role. This paper focuses on the role of unions in enforcement as well as institutional location issues to expose a number of central enforcement problems that those seeking to establish new systems and processes should consider. A number of recommendations in respect of the structure of Fair Work Australia and the continuing role of unions are suggested.

Does institutional location protect from political influence? the case of a minimum labour standards enforcement agency in Australia

Among the many factors that influence enforcement agencies, this article examines the role of the institutional location (and independence) of agencies, and an incumbent government's ideology. It is argued that institutional location affects the level of political influence on the agency's operations, while government ideology affects its willingness to resource enforcement agencies and approve regulatory activities. Evidence from the agency regulating minimum labour standards in the Australian federal industrial relations jurisdiction (currently the Fair Work Ombudsman) highlights two divergences from the regulatory enforcement literature generally. First, notions of independence from political interference offered by institutional location are more illusory than real and, second, political need motivates political action to a greater extent than political ideology.

Enforceable undertakings : a new mechanism for minimum labour standards’ enforcement

Regulatory commentators have identified the need for more responsive regulation to allow enforcement agencies to respond to different types and degrees of non-compliance. One tool considered to support responsive enforcement is the Enforceable Undertaking (EU). EUs are used extensively by Australian regulators in decisions that forego litigation in exchange for offenders promising to (amongst other things) correct behaviour and comply in the future. This arguably allows regulatory agencies greater flexibility in how they obtain compliance with regulations. EUs became an additional enforcement tool for the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) under the Fair Work Act 2009. This paper is a preliminary exploration of the comparative use of EUs by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the FWO to assess their effectiveness for the minimum labour standards' environment.

Government procurement contracts and minimum labour standards enforcement: Rhetoric, duplication and distraction?

Government contracts for services typically include terms requiring contractors to comply with minimum labour standards laws. Procurement contract clauses specify reporting procedures and sanctions for non-compliance, implying that government contracting agencies will monitor and enforce minimum labour standards within contract performance management. In this article, the case of school cleaners employed under New South Wales government contracts between 2010 and 2011 is the vehicle for exploring the effectiveness of these protective clauses. We find that the inclusion of these protective clauses in procurement contracts is unnecessary in the Australian context, and any expectations that government contracting agencies will monitor and enforce labour standards are misleading. At best, the clauses are rhetoric, and at worst, they are a distraction for parties with enforcement powers.

Minimum Quality Standards in Baseball and the Paradoxical Disappearance of the .400 Hitter

This paper argues (following Gould, 2003) that the disappearance of the .400 hitter in major league baseball is due, not to a decrease in ability at the top end of the talent distribution, but to better methods of screening out players at the low end of the distribution. The argument is related to the economic literature on minimum quality standards in markets with imperfect information.

Minimum property standards for urban renewal rehabilitation, one through eleven living units.

"FHA No. 950."

Employee benefit plans : minimum vesting standards : defined contribution plans.

Mode of access: Internet.

Factual brief, submitted on behalf of the Industrial Commissioner, in the matter of the petitions of certain affected persons, firms, and corporations, for a review of the validity or reasonableness of Directory order number 7, governing minimum wage standards in the retail trade industry, promulgated under Article 19 of the Labor law. Case no. 2828-45, et al.

Cover title.

Employment Standards Digest

"A digest of activites and actions involving the Employment Standards Administration

L’usage par les travailleurs étrangers temporaires des ressources proposées par le droit du travail : une contribution aux études portant sur l’effectivité du droit

Au Canada, le nombre de travailleurs étrangers temporaires est en forte hausse et ce, depuis 2003. Les travailleurs étrangers temporaires ne disposent ni de la citoyenneté politique, ni de la résidence permanente; leur mobilité professionnelle est restreinte et leur durée de séjour est limitée et prédéterminée. Sur le plan formel, ces travailleurs bénéficient des protections prévues par le droit du travail nonobstant leur statut migratoire. Toutefois, plusieurs travaux ont démontré que les travailleurs étrangers temporaires occupant des emplois qui requièrent un niveau réduit de formation sont généralement moins enclins à dénoncer la violation de leurs droits au travail. Le droit du travail constitue-t-il un rempart utile pour ces travailleurs? À l’aide d’une méthodologie mixte impliquant notamment une enquête de terrain auprès des acteurs-clé, la présente thèse poursuit deux objectifs distincts. Sur le plan empirique, elle permet de mettre en lumière l’incidence du système d’emploi singulier dans lequel s’insèrent les travailleurs étrangers temporaires sur leur usage des ressources proposées par le droit du travail. Le recours à ces ressources n’est pas contingent et prédéterminé; il est inextricablement lié aux opportunités et aux contraintes avec lesquelles ces travailleurs composent. Cette recherche révèle également que les stratégies échafaudées par différents acteurs qui ne sont pas, sur le plan juridique, des parties au rapport salarial, ont une incidence significative sur l’usage du droit par ses destinataires ; leur impact dépend largement du pouvoir dont ces acteurs disposent dans le système d’emploi. Sur le plan théorique, cette thèse s’inscrit dans le champ plus large des études portant sur l’effectivité du droit; elle propose de distinguer entre l’étude des effets du droit et l’analyse de son usage. Elle présente, à cette fin, un cadre analytique permettant de saisir le rapport qu’entretiennent les destinataires avec le droit.

Minimum wage and maximum hours standards under the Fair Labor Standards Act /

Title from cover.

Employment relationship under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Shipping list no.: 85-912-P.

Economic report : the minimum wage in American Samoa, 2001 /

"Prepared under the direction of Alan L. Moss, Chief Economist of the Wage and Hour Division"--P. iii.