In trying to keep generally up to speed with the various
submissions that are being made to the eminent Panel charged with
reviewing the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) ("the FW Act") I
noticed that the Church of Scientology has put in a one page
submission (which is a lot more inviting to read than others, such
as AiGroup, which goes for 180 odd pages).
The submission essentially says that the Church takes no issue
with the concept of a "fair day's work for a fair
day's pay" but that the FW Act and other industrial laws
should not be applied to people who do work as volunteers,
particularly those who do so for a church as part of their
commitment to its mission.
Of course this issue is a bit "raw" for the Church as
last year it was investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman in
relation to whether some of those person who worked for it as
"volunteers" were truly employees who were not paid
statutory and/or award entitlements.
