Australian Employers Brace For Arbitration As IR Reforms Make Bargaining More Complex, Resource Heavy And Less Productive: HSF Kramer Survey

Australian employers could be heading towards more enterprise bargaining arbitration as organisations feel the aftershocks of the Australian Government’s industrial relations reforms (IR reforms), a survey by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (HSF Kramer) reveals.

HSF Kramer’s At the Bargaining Table pulse report of 65 senior leaders and industrial relations practitioners in Australia found that three quarters (75%) believe the enterprise bargaining system has become overly technical and prescriptive, 70% said it gives unions and employees too much bargaining power, and 61% said the reforms have made it more difficult to reach agreement. Only 9% said the current enterprise bargaining system strikes a fair balance between employers and employees.