The Business Council of Australia supports the Government’s efforts to implement its JobKeeper measures, including temporary changes to the Fair Work Act that will give employers the flexibility they need during this crisis to keep businesses afloat and save thousands of jobs, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.
“In these exceptional times we have to be able to act as quickly as possible across the whole economy to make sure people don’t slip through the cracks.
“We simply don’t have time to change over 120 separate awards and over 11,000 enterprise bargaining agreements through a business as usual process.
“The national effort and cooperation between governments, businesses, unions and workers must continue to save people’s jobs and keep them connected to their employer.
“As borders close, regular duties change and normal business hours decrease, employers need the maximum amount of flexibility to protect jobs and the Australian economy.
“Without the proposed temporary changes to the Act, jobs will be lost.
“The legislation will need to enable employers to make reasonable modifications to employees’ hours of work and avoid situations where peoples’ jobs become redundant.
“These changes can be done in a way that include strong safe guards to prevent abuse, and a strict time limit and oversight by the Fair Work Commission.
“These sorts of changes would be greatly welcomed by business and workers and should be passed without delay when the Parliament sits on Wednesday.”
