Annual Wage Review 2013–14 - [2013] FWCFB 7720

[2013] FWCFB 7720

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

STATEMENT

Fair Work Act 2009
s.285 - Annual wage reviews to be conducted

Annual Wage Review 2013–14
(C2014/1)

JUSTICE ROSS, PRESIDENT
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT WATSON
COMMISSIONER SPENCER
COMMISSIONER HAMPTON
MR COLE
MR HARCOURT
PROFESSOR RICHARDSON

MELBOURNE, 3 OCTOBER 2013

DRAFT RESEARCH PROGRAM

[1] In a Statement by the President on 17 July 2013, the Fair Work Commission invited submissions from parties in relation to the establishment of a research program. 1 Submissions closed on 22 August 2013.

[2] Two research proposals were filed and a public conference took place on 12 September 2013. At this conference, some parties (who had not filed research proposals) made further suggestions for the research program. Additional material addressing questions posed by the President to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations (ACCER) was also filed on 17 September 2013.

[3] The proposals and suggestions in relation to the research program have mainly referred to proposed changes in the Statistical Report. The current Statistical Report can be viewed at the Fair Work Commission website link:

[4] We consider that some additions to the Statistical Report should be adopted. In particular:

In relation to the ACCER proposal for modelling for single-income households without Newstart Allowance, the Statistical Report will be amended to also include modelling for couple households where the household member who is not working does not receive the Newstart Allowance;

in relation to the ACTU’s proposal for the extension of the estimates of relative living standards of low-paid workers over time, the Statistical Report will be amended to include estimates to 2004 (the earliest year for comparable analysis); and

In relation to the ACCER proposal that underlying data and calculations for the poverty lines in the Statistical Report be made available to interested parties, staff of the Fair Work Commission will make this data available to parties on request. Any requests should be forwarded to [email protected].

[5] We make some comments below to address the research proposals that we have not decided to proceed with.

[6] ACCER has proposed that the Fair Work Commission establish a process under s.290 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to investigate data held by government organisations relevant to the estimation of relative living standards and the needs of the low paid. However, it is not clear to the Expert Panel how ACCER intends the Fair Work Commission to undertake this investigation. We therefore suggest that this proposal be further discussed at the Minimum Wages Research Group consultation following the release of this research program. After this discussion, ACCER may wish to resubmit this proposal for the Panel’s consideration as part of the Annual Wage Review 2013–14 submissions process.

[7] ACCER has also proposed factoring in child care for the equivalence scales used to estimate poverty lines in the Statistical Report. While the Fair Work Commission has decided not to further investigate this due to resource constraints, parties should note that the Australian Workplace Relations Study (to be undertaken in 2014) will provide some information on costs of working, including child care costs. Further, a link to the relevant chapter in the ‘Report on Government Services’ produced by the Productivity Commission, which includes data on costs of child care services, will now be included in the Statistical Report.

[8] Finally, ACCER proposed that the Statistical Report include aged and disability pensioner households in the comparisons of household disposable income, suggesting that pensions represent a relevant safety net and comparator. However, we are not presently persuaded that it is a relevant comparator and is therefore not included in the proposed changes to the Statistical Report. .

[9] Accompanying this statement is a draft research program for review, including proposed changes to the Statistical Report (Attachment A). Any submissions or suggestions in relation to the draft research program or Statistical Report should be received by 17 October 2013.

[10] Submissions to the draft research program can be filed electronically at [email protected] or by facsimile to (03) 9655 0401.

[11] The Expert Panel’s decision in respect of the research program and the Statistical Report for the Annual Wage Review 2013–14 will be issued in November 2013.

PRESIDENT

Attachment A

Draft research program—for comment

Background

The Annual Wage Review 2012–13 decision stated that the Fair Work Commission (Commission) intended to give consideration to a research program for the 2013–14 as soon as practicable:

“We intend to give consideration to the research program for the Annual Wage Review 2013–14 as soon as practicable and will invite interested parties to lodge research proposals. The research program will not necessarily be restricted to the parties’ proposals.” 2

In a Statement on 17 July 2013, the President outlined that:

“Before inviting submissions for the Commission’s research program, it is relevant to note that the Commission has already committed significant resources to a number of research projects to meet the Commission’s previous research program priorities.

The Commission has also committed resources to the upcoming Australian Workplace Relations Study 3 to be undertaken in 2013-14 which will fill an important data gap at the enterprise/workplace level on matters that the Commission must take into account when conducting an annual wage review ... The commitment of resources to these projects means that there is limited capacity for the Commission to undertake additional research for the upcoming review. However, we invite submissions to the research program proposed taking into account the stated constraints, and also invite comment on the statistical report.”4

The public conference foreshadowed by the President was held on 12 September 2013. Two research proposals were received from:

the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU); and

the Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations (ACCER).

The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) gave comments on the research proposals at the public conference on 12 September 2013.

Additional information was requested by the President in relation to the research proposals. The ACTU and ACCER submitted this material on 17 September 2013. Comments regarding this additional information closed 24 September 2013.

All material received was posted to the Commission website.

Research to inform the Annual Wage Review 2013–14

The following research will be published in December 2013:

‘Award reliance’ (by the Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney)

‘Minimum wages and their role in the process and incentive to bargain’ (by the Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney)

Details of these projects are available from the Commission website:

Research

Following consideration of proposals and consultations, a number of research projects will be initiated to inform future annual wage reviews:

Statistical reporting

Statistical reporting on a range of data relevant to annual wage reviews will continue to be published on the Commission website and will be updated periodically as new data become available.

The following additional information of disposable income of household types will be included in the Statistical Report to inform the Annual Wage Review 2013–14:

modelling for single-income households will also include the second earner not receiving the Newstart Allowance; and

modelling of selected household types will cover a longer time period extending from 2004 to 2013.

The Statistical Report will also refer to data on costs of child care services by providing a link to the relevant chapter in the ‘Report on Government Services’ produced by the Productivity Commission. The 2012 Report on Government Services 5 can be viewed at the following link:

Australian Workplace Relations Study

The Commission is undertaking a linked employer-employee survey to capture the views of both employers and employees on workplace issues and to collect data on pay equity matters. It will be the first survey of its kind since the 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. In particular, data from the study will assist the Commission in performing its functions by enabling research for wage setting processes such as annual wage reviews, research for pay equity matters and the General Manager’s 2015 reporting requirements.

Details of the study are available from the Commission website at:

research review

The Expert Panel will be conducting a review of its medium term research program. The review is intended to ensure that the research program is strategically focused, having regard to research that has already been undertaken, including research ‘gaps’ which are of particular relevance to the Annual Wage Review.

A process of consultation will be conducted with interested parties in the third quarter of 2014.

Notification of these consultations will be made via the Commission website.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

1 [2013] FWCFB 4686.

2 [2013] FWCFB 4000, at para. 601.

3 For more information about the Australian Workplace Relations Study, see the Commission website:

4 [2013] FWC 4686, at paras 2–3.

5 SCRGSP (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Services Provision) 2012, Report on Government Services 2012, Productivity Commission, Canberra.