Spotless is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n company which provides services such as cleaning, catering, facilities management and non-core business support to outsourcing

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...

 markets in Australia, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and the USA, as well as manufacturing garment hanger systems, labels and packaging for garment manufacturing and retail industries. Spotless is a publicly listed company in Australia and New Zealand and is in the Top 200 listed companies by market capitalisation. The company employs more than 27,000 people and provides services to over 20,000 private and public sector clients.

Controversies

Spotless has become the focus of a high-profile industrial relations test case in Australia after claims of bullying and harassment surrounding Spotless’ use of individual flexible agreements (IFAs), were raised by members of United Voice. United Voice is the union that represents contract cleaners employed by Spotless at shopping centres, CBD buildings and other privately and publicly owned buildings.

The case will be heard by the Federal Court of Australia

Federal Court of Australia

The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...

, where United Voice will argue that Spotless is in breach of the Fair Work Act

Fair Work Australia

Fair Work Australia is the Australian industrial relations institution created by the Federal ALP Government's Fair Work Act 2009.. It commenced operation on 1 July 2009.-Functions:...

 as it leaves cleaners worse off than they would be without the IFAs.

United Voice will also tell Fair Work Australia and the Federal Court that cleaners have reported that they have been unduly pressured into signing the agreements and were allegedly told if they refuse to sign the IFAs they were warned that their hours would be cut or that they would be refused overtime hours which they have enjoyed under the Cleaning Services Award.

United Voice will also claim Spotless misrepresented the IFAs to its workers. The Union says Spotless' use of IFAs in these circumstances is contrary to the spirit and intent of the Individual Flexibility provisions under the Fair Work Act and that Spotless are trying to re-introduce WorkChoices

WorkChoices

The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...

 AWAs

Australian Workplace Agreement

Australian workplace agreements were formalized individual agreements negotiated by the boss and employee. Employers could offer "take it or leave it" AWAs as a condition of employment. They were registered by the employment advocate and did not require a dispute resolution procedure. These...

by the back door.

The case was due to go to before Fair Work Australia on the 18th of April, however, Spotless did not attend the voluntary mediation.