'Fair' workplace reforms create two rules for teens
Under the Labor party's new 'simple, modern system of awards' in Australia, legal hours for teenage workers have been, in some places, affected, and, in other places, not. Hours for teen workers now depend on how their work is classified. For businesses that operate under the 'modernized system,' all casual employees must now work shifts that are at least three hours long. For businesses operating under the new Vehicle Manufacturing, Repair, Services and Retail Award, no minimum hours exist. As such, for example, a gas station and a hardware store just a few miles apart now must operate differently. One may employ teen workers for their usual 2 to 2.5 hour after-school shifts; the other had to let all of its teen workers go. Workplace relations spokesman Eric Abetz says the law is the opposite of consistent and fair, but the Workplace Relations Minister said that it makes perfect sense that different jobs require different awards.
See "'Fair' workplace reforms create two rules for teens", Ewin Hannan, The Australian, February 7, 2010