Releasing an ACTU statement on the effects on families of the Governments IR proposals in Canberra today, ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:

The Prime Minister promised to prepare a Family Impact Statement on important new legislation but has failed to do so for the IR changes.

This is not surprising when research shows that job deregulation is bad for families and that children suffer when parents work long hours, on nights or weekends.

Parents that work long or irregular hours are not available for children after school, and especially to help with the homework, not able to attend school functions or sports days and not able to do things together at weekends or eat together as a family.

Other recent research shows that time pressure is the number one issue affecting the quality of peoples relationships.

The Governments new WorkChoices IR law will increase the financial pressure as well as the time pressure on working families because many workers could lose weekend, shift, public holiday and overtime rates as well as control over their weekly working hours.

Other negative effects of the WorkChoices legislation that the ACTU identifies in its Family Impact Statement are:

• Under the new laws there is no guaranteed right for workers to 4 weeks annual leave or a block of leave for an annual family holiday. Up to two weeks of the leave can be cashed out and employers could insist that workers take their annual leave in single days meaning the annual family holiday will go up in smoke.
• Parents will lose the right to request an extension of unpaid leave beyond 12 months after the birth of child.
• The loss of protection from unfair dismissal for up to four million employees will mean reduced job security and will increase the pressure on families. Some research shows this could potentially lead to a drop in fertility rates.
• Mothers will be prevented from working for at least 6 weeks after the birth of a child, as it will be compulsory to take (unpaid) maternity leave.
• There is a massive wages gap between women and men in the workforce and that this is worst for women on individual contracts the Governments preferred form of employment. Women on AWA individual contracts earn up to $152.00 a week less than men.
• Women in small and medium sized workplaces who lodge a sexual harassment complaint against their employer can be sacked without protection from unfair dismissal.

The new IR laws are clearly designed to increase business profits at the expense of Australias working families.