Law firms, retailers pull bids for COVID-19 award changes

Retailers and top-tier law firms have abandoned pushes to cut hours and direct annual leave in response to the coronavirus crisis following union resistance.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said employers were now shifting their focus to broader industrial relations reform, despite weeks of negotiations with unions on potential flexibilities in the retail award.

A group of 13 major law firms also withdrew their application to vary the legal services award, which covers law graduates and paralegals, telling the union on Friday it was due to "the easing of restrictions and the continuing non-consent between the parties".

The moves mark the end of temporary award flexibilities to respond to the COVID-19 crisis following historic deals between employers and unions over the past two months to save jobs in hospitality, administration, education and fast-food.

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association national secretary Gerard Dwyer said further deals were unlikely.

"The SDA believes the case for further award variations is significantly diminished as states start to lift their lockdown restrictions," he said.

"At this point there are no active discussions on award variations involving the SDA."

'Outdated' hours and penalties

National Retail Association chief executive Dominique Lamb criticised the SDA's position at a time when retail has been "hit hard by the economic sledgehammer of COVID-19" with an unprecedented plunge in turnover during April.

"Given we’re dealing with the greatest economic catastrophe since the Great Depression, it is imperative that all industry stakeholders work together in a cooperative fashion," she said.

"We’re incredibly disappointed that the SDA has walked away from negotiations to vary the retail award. This is not in the best interest of the retail industry including retail workers."

ACCI deputy workplace director Tamsin Lawrence said "we are now seeing retailers opening up their doors once again.

"As a result, we are focusing on more broad-ranging, longer-term reform to repair the industrial relations legislation in this country as part of efforts to stimulate the economy."

Australian Retailers Association head Paul Zahra said the group still believed the award needed to change, criticising its span of hours as "outdated" and arguing penalties should only apply "when an individual is working outside their preferences".

“The retail landscape has changed significantly and will continue to rapidly evolve – and the retail award has not kept pace with the realities of consumer demands and service preferences or the flexibility requirements of employers and their staff," he said.

The Australian Services Union said the threshold for temporary award changes was now higher and that it had opposed law firms' applications unless they could provide evidence the crisis was affecting their business.

The firms responded by sending the union two articles from The Australian Financial Review on the legal industry from late March and early April.

The articles reported top law firms preparing their employees for the worst and of Norton Rose Fulbright asking staff to reduce their hours and pay by 20 per cent.

However, the ASU shot back with a more recent article from the Financial Review showing the largest law firms were faring well and had deferred any leave requests or cuts to hours due to continuing work.

Market data from Thomson Reuters for 12 firms released this month showed the sector had performed strongly in March and April, with most firms even increasing their revenue in the former month.

After accusing the law firms of relying on "the vibe" last week, a la fictional lawyer Dennis Denuto in the film The Castle, ASU national assistant secretary Linda White said the firms' withdrawal followed the same script.

"Someone's clearly told the law firms 'tell them they're dreaming'," she said.

She said following the controversial fast-food case to suspend part-time overtime rates, which some unions opposed and required McDonald's to prove it was struggling from the lockdown, the legal award changes "wouldn't have passed muster".

"As much as I love the Financial Review, it's going to need more than that. If the commission accepted that it might have been a new benchmark."