Page 2086 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 25 October 1989
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contributions are already in place; and fifthly, the increase in turnover of the board would improve its investment capacities and efficiency through economies of scale, and facilitate the development of other initiatives such as in the area of industry training.
The training and retraining benefits to the building and construction industry of the scheme run through the Long Service Leave Board are an advantage of the scheme that cannot be merely passed over, and perhaps this is an appropriate time to give a little more detail about the proposed Long Service Leave Board redundancy scheme. It is envisaged that such a scheme would involve an initial contribution rate of $20 per week per employee or 4.5 per cent of wages. The award redundancy pay benefit would be satisfied with a surplus of about $500,000 per year. This surplus would be held by a neutral body - this must not be forgotten - accepted by all within the industry. This sum of $500,000 per year could then be allocated to appropriate industry training programs and also to support building industry research. An appropriate board would be established to administer these training and research funds, if necessary.
The scheme proposed for the Long Service Leave Board would provide benefits consistent with those decided by the full bench. The benefits would be accrued for periods of continuous service. For example, for less than one year's service the severance pay would be nil; for more than one year but less than two years it would be four weeks' pay; for more than two years but less than three years, six weeks' pay; for more than three years but less than four years, seven weeks' pay; and for more than four years service, eight weeks' severance pay.
Benefits would be payable only for genuine redundancy and not for retirement, dismissal for misconduct or other terminations. Contributions to the board by employers would be determined by actuarial study and paid with long service leave contributions. The board already records periods of service in the industry for each employee and is in a position to manage a redundancy payments scheme similar to existing procedures for long service leave.
An employee would be entitled to accrue redundancy benefits up until he or she left the industry. An employer would be required to provide a statement of service of an employee on each occasion that employee's service is terminated. When employees decided that they no longer wished to work in the industry, they would produce to their current employer and the Long Service Leave Board a statutory declaration to that effect, and the employees would then be entitled to the redundancy benefits commensurate with their years of service in the industry.
The sense and the benefits of this scheme are irrefutable, we would submit, and an ACT redundancy scheme is the most sensible approach and solution to the problem with the
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