State's new IR laws to impose more costs on business: CCI

A new package of State Government industrial relations reforms will impose further red tape and regulation on WA businesses and increase employment costs, according to the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The full text of an announcement from CCI Manager Workplace Relations Policy, Marcia Kuhne is pasted below

The Western Australian government appears hell-bent on imposing further red tape and regulation on local small, medium and large business by introducing a raft of new industrial relations laws into the WA Parliament.

State Parliament is today expected to debate three new industrial relations bills, the Industrial and Related Legislation Amendment Bill 2007, the Contractual Benefits Bill 2007 and the Employment Dispute Resolution Bill 2007.

The state's peak business and employer group, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA, is concerned this extremely complex and detailed legislation will create further duplication, complexity and confusion in the area of industrial relations when there is no clear or compelling case for further intervention.

CCI warns the introduction of another layer of state based industrial relations legislation will impose further administrative constraints on WA business and increase the costs of employment.

Sadly, the government introduced the bills into State Parliament without consulting WA business on the changes.

Under the proposed WA workplace laws, employers will be forced to contend with separate state and federal industrial relations requirements which will add to the cost and the complexity of doing business in WA.

Instead CCI advocates the creation of a single national system to streamline and simplify the process.

Business appreciates the importance of providing adequate safeguards for all workers, however it is imperative that such measures are implemented in a nationally consistent and sensible way, otherwise excessive regulation and red tape will threaten to undermine the state's business competitiveness.

CCI urges the WA Government to delay the passage of the bills to allow small, medium and large business to be consulted on all aspects of the legislation and how the changes will impact on the already complex industrial relations system.