Employment Relations

The vulnerability of workers has been prevalent in the workplace for many years, with those classified as �young’ workers being the most vulnerable when it comes to exploitation. This essay addresses the exploitation many young workers have to deal with in the workplace, as well as touching on exploitation of mature age workers. Also the essay will look at the responses to this exploitation by the state, unions and employers. It is with these responses that we will be able to attain an understanding on the extent of exploitation that young workers face on a daily basis, and will allow to conclude that young workers are indeed more vulnerable to exploitation.

In the context of this essay, young workers can be defined as those people in the workforce that fit into the 15-24 years age bracket (McDonald et al, 2007), with mature age workers being those that usually fall into the 45-64 age brackets (Encel, 2003). At times this essay will refer to Generation Y; those in the workforce who were generally born between the years 1981 and 1994 (Tresize-Bown, 2004). Finally, with the information attained, we can see that a vulnerable worker can be best described as being someone who is weak and without protection, lacking the experience and knowledge to help deal with workplace exploitation.

In order to understand the full extent of exploitation in the workplace, background knowledge covering the 2006 Industrial Relations laws changes, Australian Workplace Agreements and Occupational Health & Safety must be sought.

In 2006, the Howard Government gained full control of the Senate. It was with the radical changes made to the Industrial Relations laws that WorkChoices was born. The changes would help take away workers rights at work; by means of keeping a job and getting a good hourly rate for both casual and part-time work (RMIT 2008). This pinch was felt more so by the young workers than any other working generation. Under WorkChoices awards were to become a thing of the past, with Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA’s) taking their place.

The controversial AWA’s cut many “protected” Award conditions such as, overtime and public holiday pay (NUW, 2007). It was with the new AWA’s that saw that workers rights at work were dramatically cut, many of the conditions that were once relied on were no longer protected. Also, there was no longer a collective bargaining right. Thus it has been said by many that the changes to legislation made way for a new way to be exploited by their employers.

Workers are also vulnerable to their workplaces lacking the standard Occupational Health and Safety practices. Occupational Health and Safety is not just about being clean in the workplace, but rather, ensuring a safe and healthy working environment for all (ACTU 2008). Employers are legally required to identify all hazards and talk to their employees about issues surrounding the health and safety of their workers, including providing proper training and supervision and undertaking regular safety checks.

Young people currently make up one-fifth of the Australian labour force, with 1.9 million between the ages of 15 and 24 participating in paid work (McDonald et al 2005). Many of which can often be subjected to poor work conditions, unsatisfactory pay, and bullying and harassment. Lately there has been a trend in young workers being uninformed about their rights and responsibilities that relate to their working environment. It is through this lack of knowledge of their employment rights that they are easily led to exploitation.

A recent study has shown that there are four main areas in which young workers are vulnerable. These areas are the general low level of pay and conditions; high level of precariousness in employment, which was increased under the legislation; high level of vulnerability to exploitation which was seen to be intensified by the low levels of unionisation; and the low quality of jobs held by many young workers (McDonald et al 2007).

Young workers are also said to be vulnerable because of their maturity and skill levels, the ability they possess to identify risks in the workplace, and finally, their confidence about raising problems with their supervisors (Young Workers Code of Practice). The latter could be said to be due to the changes to the unfair dismissal laws, in which an employer had the power to dismiss workers for questioning happenings in the workplace.

According to Janis Bailey, “There is a vulnerability in the workplace because of the changes to the unfair dismissal laws. Employees don’t know what to do if they are dismissed. There is nothing they can do but look for another job”. However, it is not only the young that are vulnerable to dismissal.

It is commonly believed that mature