TFGA urges farmers to have their say on Fair Work issues

Tasmanian farmers have the opportunity to have input into changes to Australia’s employment laws through two reviews that are currently underway.

The Australian Government is reviewing the Fair Work Act; and Fair Work Australia is also reviewing the new modern awards system under the legislation.

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association chief executive Jan Davis said today farmers were generally unhappy with the employment regime introduced by the federal government in 2009.

“The system is over-bureaucratic and inflexible,” Ms Davis said. “And this has had repercussions on productivity and competitiveness.”

Farmers are particularly critical of the definition of ordinary working hours that takes no account of the real world on a farm in terms of the hours that crops have to be harvested, for instance.

“Farming is not a highly controlled activity where you can plan a week or so ahead to organise rosters and only harvest in daylight hours, Monday to Friday. That’s not how it works,” she said.

“Labour can be up to 50% of farm costs. While falling prices for fruit and vegetables at the checkout may be a boon for consumers, they are not good news for farmers. Margins are already very thin in farming and farmers don’t have the option of adding a surcharge on their prices to cover penalty rates they have to pay for labour outside so-called ordinary working hours.

“The present award system is actually stopping people from working when they choose to, as well as placing unsustainable cost burdens on farm businesses,” she said.

Tasmanian farmers can contribute their thoughts about the Fair Work Act and the Modern awards system by accessing two surveys on the National Farmers’ Federation website: www.nff.org.au/review. Closing date for comments is February 10.
Jan Davis http://www.tfga.com.au/