Caution urged for printers in JobKeeper revamp

Printers are being urged to think carefully about signing up for a new round of JobKeeper when the current one expires in September, with warnings concerning accruals of entitlements.

Under the JobKeeper system – being used by almost all printers to keep idle staff on the books – the government pays the first $750 a week of wages, but the employer is responsible for all entitlements, including redundancy, super, holiday pay, parental leave, sick leave, which are all clocking up as time goes on.

The concern is that if companies get to the point of having to let people go when JobKeeper eventually ends they may not have the cash for the redundancy payments, boosted as they will be by time.

Last week a Victorian outfit, Print Logistics, lost a case in the Federal Court when it argued Covid-19 had left it cash poor, so it should only pay 20 per cent of a worker’s redundancy package. The company did not want to keep the staffer on JobKeeper, as it knew it would have to let the staffer go at some point.

Some business leaders are asking the government to freeze redundancy payments to people who have been on JobKeeper. Other say it is better for a business facing large redundancy payments to close, and then open again when the work is there.

Details of the the new JobKeeper will be released in the next two weeks. It is unlikely to be the same flat rate, and will likely be less available, with the government wanting to have people on JobSeeker, which is geared to helping them find work, whereas JobKeeper is essentially treading water. Ministers are concenred it is creating an army of so-called zombie workers

THe Melbourne company which lost its court case Print Logistics had sought to have an initial redundancy payment of $7000 under the Graphic Arts, Printing and Publishing Award 2010 reduced to first $5600, and then to $1400, citing no work, large debts and a moratorium on its rent, machinery and bank loans about to end.

A spokesman for the company told the FWC hearing, “We’ve got no jobs coming in, basically. So we’ve got 120 grand owing, no jobs coming in, debt. On top of that, when the banks re-kickstart our repayments and our rent in the CBD, and all our machinery and – I really don’t know what position we’re going to be in.”

However, the application was refused. In its ruling, the FWC said, “The commission, however, was not satisfied Print Logistics could not pay the amount… materials filed indicated Print Logistics had sufficient cash to pay the full amount of redundancy. It was further noted that the former employee was not a highly paid worker, making $874 per week, which was a relevant consideration and weighed against a decision to reduce the amount.”

The employee, Sophida Karwa, had been with the business for four years. She was supported by AMWU. The union suggested taking Karwa back under JobKeeper, but the company demurred, saying it was only delaying the inevitable.