One Nation has offered the government support for the industrial relations omnibus bill in return for a suite of minor amendments, including exempting small business from having to offer casuals conversion to permanency.
If the Coalition agrees to the changes it will be just one Senate vote short of passing the bill, which business groups have urged as a means to aid economic recovery but unions warn will undermine job security and pay.
One Nation senator, Malcolm Roberts, told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday the bill should be passed this week, before jobkeeper wage subsidies are phased out at the end of March. Delay or failure this week would mean the bill could not be dealt with until May.
Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff is now in the box seat to decide the bill’s fate. Centre Alliance has so far called for arbitration of employer refusals to convert casual employees to permanent work; and has expressed concerns about extending employer powers to vary workers’ duties and location of work.
Griff told Guardian Australia “there needs to be a formal process” to dispute refusal to convert casuals. “Whether that is arbitration or other meaningful options is up for negotiation.”
On Wednesday evening, senator Rex Patrick urged Griff to contribute to the Senate debate, arguing it was “disrespectful” to hold the casting vote without explaining his position to South Australian voters.
One Nation wants the length of project-life pay deals cut from eight years to six, with built-in pay increases in line with national minimum wage rises, and a minimum project size of $500m.
The amendments would remove the power of the industrial relations minister to allow longer pay deals for projects worth $250m or more.
The other One Nation amendments would:
Require a review of the new definition of casual employment after 12 months.
Allow casuals to request permanent work after six months, not 12.
Exempt small business employers (with 15 or fewer employees) from the requirement to offer casual conversion.
Terminate old pay deals struck under the 2005 WorkChoices regime from mid-2022.
One Nation also wants to bolster arrangements for part-time employees to agree to work extra hours at ordinary time rates, so that after 12 months the employees have a right to make the change permanent.
Roberts said the bill is “necessary to protect small and large business”, which need “certainty and confidence” about the definition of casual employment and face the risk of backpay claims for misclassified casuals.
Roberts said One Nation had accepted the government’s definition of casual employment – that it is determined by agreement at the start of a job – because alternatives were a “minefield” that would result in “unintended consequences”.
The bill would allow employers who misclassified casual employees to reduce their backpay by the amount of the casual loading they had already been paid.
Roberts said this was fair because “as an Australian we don’t double dip, we don’t expect to be paid for something twice”.
In addition to One Nation siding with the government over casuals, unions are also concerned the minor party now supports procedural changes to bargaining, such as the 21-day time limit for the Fair Work Commission to approve pay deals.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary, Sally McManus, has urged the Senate crossbench to oppose the bill by arguing that the Australian Democrats siding with John Howard to reduce workers rights was part of the reason the party “is no longer around”.
“Supporting this bill would be a shocking decision, working people want to know that lawmakers are on their side and have the guts to stand up to the Morrison government and big business.”
Since unveiling the omnibus bill in December, the government has struggled to win support for it.
In February it was forced to ditch a controversial change allowing pay deals to cut pay relative to the award. The Coalition’s negotiating efforts have suffered an unexpected setback with industrial relations minister Christian Porter on leave and acting minister Michaelia Cash tasked with shepherding it through the Senate.
Senators Patrick and Jacqui Lambie are unlikely to support the bill, after putting forward amendments blocking four of its five chapters, which would leave only increased penalties and criminal offences for wage theft.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Business Council of Australia chief executive, Jennifer Westacott, accused Labor, the Greens, Patrick and Lambie of blocking provisions that would strengthen casuals’ right to request permanent work, and part-time workers to pick up extra hours.
Failure to pass the bill would consign “enterprise bargaining to a slow and painful death”, Westacott said, arguing the changes were “careful and modest”.
