Pharmacy Daily | New IR reforms ‘counterproductive’

PHARMACY workers are being warned against signing up to new enterprise agreements if the Federal Government's Industrial Relations Omnibus Bill is passed.

Employee pharmacist union group, Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA), has warned the new industrial relations (IR) reforms "will hurt pharmacy workers by undermining their pay and conditions and by stripping away the rights of casual workers".

PPA President, Dr Geoff March, said the legislation contains "a range of troubling reforms", which he said may make enterprise agreements more attractive to pharmacy owners who were previously resistant to them.

"Pharmacy employees should be wary of any approach from their employer to enter into an enterprise agreement if this new Bill is passed, as their employer may be seeking to reduce their pay and conditions," he said.

"Pharmacy employees should immediately contact the union if they are confronted with a new enterprise agreement by their employer."

March added the Bill would also introduce new part-time flexibility provisions to the Pharmacy Industry Award, which he said would "enable employers to only pay part-time employees who work overtime at their normal hourly rate time instead of the current Award requirement for them to be paid at overtime rates".

Professionals Australia CEO, Jill McCabe described the reforms as counterproductive.

"The fact we are still facing tough economic times where the need to increase consumer spending is paramount to recovery, yet the government is proposing laws which will result in workers having less money in their pockets to spend, is simply nonsensical," she said.

"PPA will not accept proposed changes that leave pharmacy employees worse off and we will be actively opposing any attempts to water down workplace rights."

Addressing the issue in the House of Representatives last week, pharmacist turned MP, Emma McBride, warned the Bill would see pharmacy assistants who work a 38-hour week up to $6,000 a year worse off.

"Why is the Government's Christmas 'thank you' to frontline workers a cut to their take-home pay?" she asked.