Opposition open to backing ‘workable’ BOOT wage deal reforms: Cash
WA Today.
August 31, 2022


Landmark proposals to simplify workplace deals could win bipartisan support in parliament after opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said the Coalition would consider any proposal to make the complex better off overall test (BOOT) more workable.

But Greens leader Adam Bandt has warned that his party won’t back anything that leaves young or lower-paid workers worse off.

Coalition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash says the opposition will consider changes that make the better off overall test more workable.


Asked if she would support proposals to overhaul the test, which guarantees employees do not go backwards in enterprise bargaining negotiations, Cash said, “we’ll consider any proposal to make the BOOT more workable in facilitating enterprise agreements for both employers and employees”.

The test will be high on the agenda at the jobs summit on Thursday and Friday, which will bring together political, business and union leaders to examine Australia’s industrial relations system, the national skills shortage, participation and skilled migration.

Labor and the Coalition fought over proposed reforms to the BOOT during the election, when then-opposition industrial relations minister Tony Burke accused the Morrison government of undermining penalties and other entitlements. That prompted Cash, then the minister, to rule out any changes to the test.

“The suggestion that the Morrison government is trying to cut wages and conditions is completely untrue,” Cash said in April, adding the Coalition was not changing the test “full stop”.

What is the BOOT (the better off overall test)?
The better off overall test, or BOOT, is a central safeguard in Australia’s workplace system that ensures individual workers don’t go backwards in enterprise bargaining. The Fair Work Commission compares a registered agreement to the relevant industry award to ensure the employee would be better off overall if the agreement were approved. It is not sufficient that a majority of the employees would be better off.
Employer groups say the BOOT increases costs and reduces flexibility. They want the test simplified by scrapping clauses to do with hypothetical scenarios and allowing the passage of agreements that have majority workforce backing.
Unions say the test, introduced by the Rudd government, protects workers against wage cuts.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus on Sunday acknowledged the test could be simplified.
Workplace Minister Tony Burke has hinted he is open to seeing the ratification of agreements that have majority support.
About 1.66 million Australians are covered by enterprise agreements, down from a peak of 2.6 million in 2010.
The BOOT will be on the agenda at the federal government’s jobs and skills summit on Thursday and Friday.
But reforms to the test are back on the agenda at the jobs summit, after the ACTU began negotiating directly with small businesses on ways to strip back some of the red tape that has bogged down BOOT deliberations over wage deals.

Unions fear any changes to the test that will remove safeguards for workers but want the process simplified to speed up enterprise bargaining.



Businesses have frequently pushed for the ability to trade off standard penalties for productivity incentives, as well as the ability for Fair Work to strike majority-approved deals and to ignore objections based on hypotheticals.

If the Coalition does not back the changes to the Fair Work Act that would need to be legislated, then Labor will need the Greens’ 12 votes in the Senate, and one final vote, to pass any changes.

Greens leader Adam Bandt says his party will stand against weakening the BOOT.


In a speech ahead of the summit, Greens leader Adam Bandt will fire a shot across the bows of Labor, unions and business that it cannot take for granted the party’s 12 senate votes.

“Whatever deal is reached at the summit needs the Greens support or it won’t pass the parliament. The Greens hold the balance of power, and we stand ready to amend whatever comes across our desk so it lifts wages, improves rights at work, and reduces cost of living,” Bandt will say in his speech, a copy of which was shared with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

“The Greens are also very worried about recent calls to weaken the better off overall test because this will lead to workers being worse off.

“It is deeply distressing to see even the Labor government now open to changing the Fair Work Act to endorse this illegal behaviour. The Greens cannot back the summit striking deals that leave young and low paid workers worse off.”


ACTU secretary Sally McManus wants to see the BOOT simplified, but has declined to say how. “We’re just talking about a simple and fair system.

Quote:


The Major issue with the BOOT test is that it absolutely fails to achieve this and in practice drives the exact opposite.

The boot test only applies to the lowest wage and conditions in the modern award, this is meant to be the safety net position. As soon as an employee is paid 1 cent above the safety net and one condition better than the absolute minimum the BOOT test becomes irrelevant as in theory this employee is better off compared to the safety net.

This means that if you are paid $10,000 above the minimum of the Modern Award then the reality is that the employer can make a offer to you paying $10,000 less than your current wage and this is not a breach of the BOOT test. It would be uncommon for the market rate in a lot of cases to not be $10,000 or much more above the modern award rate.

Their next line of negotiation becomes well what will you give up to keep your current wage level ? This is never ending it will apply to every new agreement.

The Boot test is a fatally flawed concept that favours the employer and only the employer.

The only pay rate protected by the boot test is absolutely inadequate.

I'm just being pedantic here, sorry guys, but ...

... it's the BOOT.  Full stop.

It's not the BOOT test.

The T at the end of BOOT stands for test.

Saying BOOT test is like saying ATM machine.

It's a pet peeve of mine, sorry   

(You could say BOO Test) 

Grappler Deep State Feller wrote on Sep 8^th, 2022 at 8:07am:


I'm not sure.

Maybe we could ask the Federal FBI.

Carl D wrote on Sep 8^th, 2022 at 10:07am:


Are you serious?

Something similar happened to me in real life, many years ago.

I was a passenger in a friend's car and I noticed that her oil light was on.

When I brought it to her attention she said it had been on for months, but hadn't got around to getting it fixed.

She didn't check her oil - she just thought the light was stuck on   

And yes, RAT test is a pet peeve of mine too   

Let's hope we never hear "I'm gonna take a rapid RAT test".