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What do franchisors think of the proposed Fair Work amendments?

Sarah Stowe

Franchisors have had the chance to give feedback about changes proposed in Fair Work legislation and more than 180 brands took the opportunity to share their views.

The Franchise Council of Australia commissioned FRANdata to conduct a survey to gauge the impact of the Fair Work Amendment, to provide further key metrics data to support its intended submissions and related representative work.

The Australian Franchise Sector Survey on the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 received feedback from 180+ franchise brands representing more than 20,000 small businesses.

Franchisors believe that franchise systems already provide substantial franchisee support around workplace law compliance but franchisees overwhelmingly manage workplace compliance issues.

The responses also revealed franchise systems would need to undertake a significant amount of additional work if the legislation is introduced across a range of identified measures.

Other key findings from the survey respondents include:

  • 88% indicated they were concerned or extremely concerned about the bill.
  • 3% believed they fully understood the implications and were ready to deal with them.
  • 51% were investigating what steps needed to be taken; a further 23% already had an action plan in place.
  • 54% identified a significant additional cost and change to existing business practices.
  • 71% expected costs of the actions over the first 12 months to exceed $20,000 with a further 22% anticipating costs greater than $100,000.
  • 17% would need to fundamentally review whether they continued with a franchise model.
  • 4% said they would cease franchising.

The survey formed part of the FCA submission to the presiding Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee.

Find out more about Fair Work amendments

Fair Work and joint employer legislation will be hot topics at upcoming franchisor-focused events:

  • Stephen Giles, FCA director of industry regulation and government relations, will present an update on the topic at the Franchise Relationships Insitute annual Franchise Operations Conference in Sydney, May 17-18;
  • In Brisbane on June 23 at the Franchise Management Forum organised by the Asia-Pacific Centre for Franchising Excellence, Special Counsel Derek Sutherland will focus on joint employer concerns.

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