Fair Work - The new workplace laws and the Work Choices legacy

Edited by Anthony Forsyth and Andrew Stewart

Published 15 April 2009
Publisher The Federation Press
Paperback/288pp
ISBN 9781862877368

This wide-ranging collection is an authoritative and accessible analysis of the profound changes to labour regulation under the Howard and Rudd Governments.

The authors, leading scholars and practitioners, examine both the nature and legacy of the controversial Work Choices reforms and how workplace relations are set to change under the new Fair Work legislation.

Besides an ovrview of these developments, there are separate chapters on:

the shifting boundaries between federal and state regulation
the ‘safety net’ enforcement processes
agreement-making
the regulation of bargaining
industrial actions
trade union rights
dispute resolution
unfair dismissal

This book is a must-have for anyone grappling with the impact of these changes.

The Journey from Work Choices to Fair Work
Andrew Stewart and Anthony Forsyth

Testing the Boundaries: Towards a National System of Labour Regulation
Andrew Stewart

The Safety Net: Labour Standards in the New Era
Jill Murray and Rosemary Owens

A Changing of the Guard: Enforcement of Workplace Relations Laws Since Work Choices and Beyond
Tess Hardy

Making the “BOOT” Fit: Reforms to Agreement-Making from Work Choices to Fair Work
Carolyn Sutherland

“Exit Stage Left”, Now “Centre Stage”: Collective Bargaining under Work Choices and Fair Work
Anthony Forsyth

A New Consensus: The Coalition, the ALP and the Regulation of Industrial Action
Shae McCrystal

Union Security after Work Choices
Colin Fenwick and John Howe

From Industrial Arbitration to Workplace Mediation: Changing Approaches to Dispute Resolution
Joellen Riley

The Decline and Restoration of Unfair Dismissal Rights
Anna Chapman

From Work Choices to Fair Work: An Assessment
Anthony Forsyth and Andrew Stewart

Index

Reviews

As safety management broadens itself to cover psychosocial risks, it increasingly overlaps industrial relations, a workplace element that, with luck and a bit of work, could have been avoided by OHS professionals in the past. That is no longer the case and OHS professionals must understand how industrial relations changes will affect their own workplace and how they do their jobs. The Fair Work book is a great place to start.