The " Parallel Economy " !

There is a clear pattern starting to emerge when it comes to the job market in Australia.   We have had the Seven Eleven pay scandal and the Caltex Service Station need to underpay to remain in business and now the spotlight is shining on the security industry.

It seems that there is a new expectation in the minds of the countless young men and women who have left school without earning a qualification that the type of jobs offering for them will involve a rate of pay below that stipulated by law.   The people who will attain the legal pay standard are those lucky enough to find work with a government entity or big business, but which are selective and tend to recruit from those who have at least a minimum level of tertiary education.

So many of the casual jobs offering are simply basic.  They require a person to stand behind a counter and receive money for displayed goods, punch the price and the note offered into a register which calculates the change or watch them tap a card on a card reader..   Serving in a café or coffee shop may involve just the transport of food and beverages from the kitchen to the diners table.  The rate of pay usually little differs from one place of employment to another.

Unfortunately, franchise agreements pit many businesses in direct price competition with one another and the wage bill is often the determining factor in making a profit - or a loss.  We have recently seen casualties in the Pizza industry as this product has waged a price war to try and obtain market share.  Even a company displaying a world brand name and trading under that franchise is not immune from under paying employees.   Each  outlet is an individual business and its success or failure depends on keeping management costs under control.

A news story has emerged that one of our best known security firms is owned by a leading singer and her husband.   Her fame put her in a position of influence in selecting security for a country music festival and gained access to the " commercial and in confidence " quotes from rival security firms tendering for this $ 120 million event.   Not surprisingly, her firm was successful and this has resulted in it being forced to sign an enforceable undertaking to pay its employees what they are rightly entitled to receive.

The job market is a parallel economy.  Those negotiating work now expect to enter into an "understanding " with their boss.   That may involve a degree of overtime which will not appear on the books and will not be paid for, or the pay slip may record a very different number of hours and rate of pay to what is actually received.   Job scarcity means that most recipients are reluctant to complain because this has become the norm in this parallel economy.

The government is systematically investigating industries rife with this practice but it would do well to remember an imbalance back in those days when weekend trading was strictly controlled.  In particular, Hardware stores were not permitted to open on Saturday afternoon or at all on Sundays with paid staff.   They became the province of migrant families with many children and did a booming business while their competitors were forced to close their doors.

Perhaps industry is adept at finding the level of pay that is appropriate for the task required.  The notion of an umpire determining what people shall receive has strayed a long way from the system that has persisted for many centuries !