About Same Job Same Pay
Need to know:
- The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 passed through the Senate on 7 December 2023
- The underpayment of labour hire workers compared to permanents is rife across the mining industry
- The Mining and Energy Union has been actively campaigning for this change to our workplace laws
- Same Job Same Pay will work by your union applying to the Fair Work Commission for Same Job Same Pay in your workplace
- Same Job Same Pay orders can only be issued at sites where permanent employees are covered by an Enterprise Agreement
- There are exemptions for registered trainees and apprentices, short-term placements, small businesses and genuine specialist contractors
- Same Job Same Pay orders issued by the Fair Work Commission will commence operation in November 2024.
What is Same Job Same Pay?
Same Job Same Pay was introduced as part of the Closing Loopholes Bill, to stop labour hire workers from being paid less while doing the same job as workers directly employed under an Enterprise Agreement.
The Bill passed through the Senate on 7 December 2023.
Same Job Same Pay depends on the Enterprise Agreement of the host company. In order to receive Same Job Same Pay at your site, your union is required to apply for an order with the Fair Work Commission. The union must prove to the Commission that labour hire workers are performing the same work for less pay than direct employees. There are exemptions for registered trainees and apprentices, short-term placements, small businesses, and genuine specialist contractors.
Same Job Same Pay will only increase the wages bills of those companies who have used labour hire loopholes to cut wages and undermine collective bargaining. Mining company claims that it will remove incentives and rewards for workers with more skills and experience are nonsense.
Help us win Same Job Same Pay at your worksite
Same Job Same Pay orders will come into effect in November 2024, but the MEU has already begun making applications. Our cases are stronger with the more members we have on site, so there has never been a better time to get involved, or to talk to your workmates about joining.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed or supported the campaign over the years. This law is an extraordinary accomplishment.
We will keep members up to date with next steps as we make fairer wages a reality.
Mining and Energy Union Submission to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill.
Follow the Senate Inquiry into the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill.
‘Sets out key issues and questions’: ‘Read the Australian Government’s Same Job Same Pay consultation paper, outlining the issues and the approach to consulting with industry stakeholders
‘Employers seem to be jumping at shadows’: Read this explainer from the Guardian about whether the employers’ ad campaign stacks up
‘A kick in the guts’: Watch this WIN News report about our Queensland campaign launch, where a labour hire worker explains what it’s like to earn $40,000 a year less for the same job
‘$1 billion a year loss in economic activity’: Read this 2022 report by the McKell Institute about mining companies’ labour hire wage-cutting strategies and how they cost regional communities
‘If they raise a safety concern they’ll never get a permanent job’: Read this report in the Newcastle Herald about our member Rebecca McDonald travelling to Canberra to back Same Job Same Pay
‘The misuse of labour hire is allowing this to happen’: Read our MEU overview of the labour hire loopholes in mining
‘Business is trying to scare us about ‘same job, same pay’. But the proposal isn’t scary’: Read this explainer from The Conversation that dispels myths about Same Job Same Pay