Union launches online tool for workers to dob in employers flouting employment law
Sunday, 29 March 2020
The Council of Trade Unions has launched an online register for workers who have been shoddily-treated by their employers following the outbreak of Covid-19 to log their complaints.
'We continue to hear really concerning reports of unacceptable behaviour by some employers,' said CTU President Richard Wagstaff.
'I do want to stress that the majority of employers are doing the right thing, they are looking after their employees and following the clear guidance from the government. But unfortunately this is not universally the case.'
The Together online tool was designed to help the CTU identify systemic breaches of employment law, so it could report them to the Government.
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'We want to ensure that people are able to tell their stories and log what is happening to them,' said Wagstaff.
'Due to the number and complexity of problems that a significant number of working people are experiencing we need to create a register so that these cases can be triaged and addressed.'
'Where we identify there are systematic breaches of employment law we will be raising these with government.'
If the CTU spotted law-breaking on a significant scale, it would also alert the Labour Inspectorate.
Areas where abuses may be happening included employers forcing workers to use of annual leave or sick leave, and failures to manage health and safety, CTU said.
'We want to hold employers to account,' said CTU Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges.
'We think it's really important that everybody does their bit to get through Covid-19, and for employers that means treating workers fairly and legally.'
There were six main areas in which Wagstaff said the CTU was seeing poor behaviour from employers.
These were: Dismissals/redundancies, forcing workers to take annual leave and sick leave, treatment of workers in relation to the 'wage subsidy', changing terms and conditions of employment, the treatment of casual and other precarious working people, as well as breaches of health and safety laws.
The wage subsidy scheme had already seen some $2.7b of wage subsidies paid out for over 428,000 workers.
'We strongly encourage anyone who has not been treated fairly to ensure that they log it with us. Together, we will identify whether there are specific employers and industries which need to be urgently communicated with,' Wagstaff said.
'Employment law still needs to be adhered to,' Wagstaff said.
'Employers who breach the law need to be held to account.'