scholarly journals The Future of the Safety Net: Social Insurance and Employee Benefits edited by Sheldon Friedman and David C. Jacobs, Champaign, Illinois: Industrial Relations Research Association, 2001, 268 pp., ISBN 0-913447-81-1

2002 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 575
Author(s):  
Kelly Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Insurance ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Employee Benefits ◽  
Research Association ◽  
The Future

The Economic Context for Reforming the Safety Net

2019 ◽  
Vol 686 (1) ◽  
pp. 352-368
Author(s):  
Karen Dynan
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Government Debt ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Economic Context ◽  
Financial Conditions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Macroeconomic Growth

As we wrestle with the future of our safety net and social insurance programs, it is important to understand not only the features and outcomes associated with individual programs but also the broader economic context. This reflection piece discusses several relevant aspects of the macroeconomy and of economic and financial conditions facing households: rising government debt, slower macroeconomic growth, limited tools to fight future recessions, greater income inequality, and the financial struggles of households. It goes on to draw lessons for how we should reform our system of entitlement programs.

Practitioner Review: Continuity and Change: The Fair Work Act in Aviation

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Bussell ◽  
John Farrow
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Aviation Industry ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
National Debate ◽  
New Development ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

This article begins by discussing the specific industrial relations challenges of the highly competitive aviation industry. It then reflects on the outcome of the recent intense national debate over industrial relations, exploring the consequences of that debate for practice and policy, and discusses some key issues that remain in play. Although the Fair Work Act 2009 may have come about as a reaction to what many perceive as the ‘excesses’ of Work Choices, the new Act does not so much ‘wind back the clock’ as represent a significant new development in Australia’s long and unique industrial relations history. This article will discuss the impact of the changes, to date, made by the Fair Work Act on one organization, including the expansion of the ‘safety net’, and how the new compromise between the role of the ‘collective’ and the role of the ‘individual’ struck by the Act has the potential to fundamentally change the nature and structure of bargaining. We offer these comments as practitioners who have worked under successive industrial relations regimes since the early 1980s.

The Labor Government's Industrial Relations Policy: Flexibility with Equity

1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Cook
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
International Markets ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Workplace Culture ◽  
Equity And Efficiency ◽  
The Government ◽  
Wage Increases

The fundamental objective of the Government's industrial relations policy is to encourage and assist Australian companies and their employees to adopt work and management practices that will strengthen their capacity to compete successfully both in domestic and international markets. To this end we support co-operative and equitable workplace bargaining, with wage increases being linked to the reform of work practices and attitudes. Our support for decentralised bargaining is aimed at improving productivity by fostering a new workplace culture of striving for continuous improvement. We emphatically reject the view that such an outcome will be achieved by wholesale deregulation and reliance on unfettered market forces. The Government is committed, for both equity and efficiency reasons, to maintaining the Accord approach to wages policy. We are also committed to an independent Australian Industrial Relations Commission playing the vital role of protecting lower paid employees through the safety net of minimum award wages and conditions.

Industrial Legislation in 2010

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shae McCrystal ◽  
Belinda Smith
Keyword(s):  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Full Effect ◽  
Safe Work ◽  
Work Health ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Specific Regulation

Two themes in legislative activity in 2010 were national uniformity and some movement in using law to promote equality, especially gender equality. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) came into full effect with the commencement of the new safety net provisions and the referral to the Commonwealth of industrial relations powers over private-sector workforces in all states except Western Australia. Progress continued on the promised harmonization of Australian occupational health and safety laws with the release of a model Work Health and Safety Bill by Safe Work Australia, although developments in some states threaten to derail the process. An attempt to repeal most of the industry-specific regulation of the building and construction industry failed. The Federal Parliament passed legislation establishing a national paid parental leave scheme, and a number of changes to federal discrimination laws came into effect or were proposed, including the potential consolidation of federal discrimination legislation. This article provides an overview of these developments at federal level and concludes with a discussion of developments in the states including a brief overview of Victoria’s new equal opportunity legislation.

Australian Labour Market Issues: an Historical Perspective

1998 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 690-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Institutional Arrangement ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Women's Wages ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Wage Inflation

This paper provides an historical perspective on topics related to recent developments in the Australian industrial relations system discussed in this issue of the Journal— the 'living wage' concept and the safety net, 'fairness' in relative wages, women's wages, the Accord, labour market decentralisation and the role of trade unions. It concludes that recent legislation was not necessary to facilitate increased productivity because the prevailing system had shown sufficient responsiveness to the needs of the economy, both macro and micro. By limiting the jurisdiction of the AIRC and reducing the power of the weaker unions, recent legislation bas created a dual system with a less equitable pay structure and an institutional arrangement less able to deal with wage inflation under more buoyant economic conditions.

The South European Countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 843-862
Author(s):  
Maurizio Ferrera
Keyword(s):  
Social Insurance ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
State Building ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Employment Opportunities

In Southern Europe, welfare state building followed a distinct path, characterized by ‘weak Fordism’ in labour markets, a dualistic social insurance, and a faulty and fragmented safety net. The (extended) family thus played a key role as welfare and income provider for its members, penalizing women’s autonomy and employment opportunities. The 1990s and 2000s witnessed substantial efforts to modernize both labour markets and social protection schemes, by recalibrating their coverage both across risks and social groups. However, the economic crisis of the 2010s halted such recalibration and the gap with Europe’s more developed welfare states has again started to widen, especially in Italy and Greece.

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