Let's face it, in many industries, IR laws are a joke.

I have recently been working as a casual butcher and, having been a butcher for 35 odd years, I just happen to be very good at it.

I have now found out, ( the hard way) that in order to be fairly paid, a good worker has to slow his/ her pace to that of the slowest worker, and that's a joke.

To elaborate, I did what was considered a full days work, in just 5&1/2 hours, yet, instead of being paid for THE DAYS WORK I got paid for the 5&1/2 hours that I worked.

So, I have concluded that my skills are wasted and I need to slow my productivity way down, because the butcher who can't do half of what I do, and, takes a lot longer to do it, gets paid more than me because it takes him longer.

Go figure!

Perhaps this is the link to our reduction in productivity, esspecially with the likes of unfair dismissal, whereby slower workers usually set the pace as they pretty much know that they are unsackable, esspecially in larger firms.

That surprises me rehctub.

It is some time since I was in meat works country, if any meat works still exist. However back then a quoter system ruled, as you would know. Very few actual production workers were still on the premises by lunch time. They had done their tally, & gone off to the pub.

This is of course one of the reasons we have very few abattoirs still operating today. If the system you are now working under had prevailed in the 60 & 70s, perhaps we would still have them thriving, & supporting country towns, as they once did.

The 60 & 70 the abattoir system was tally system. For both kill tally and boning tally. How can anyone do a days work in five and a half hours if you are not on a tally system.
Live export shut down hoards of abattoir in those days.

Rehctub,

Your experience supports the argument that pay should not be standardised, but based on individual performance, or quota as Hasbeen has reminded us it used to be this way. When incentives are offered, this also lifts performance too.

I know of one very successful businessman who uses this system in a different industry. He sets annual quotas and pays generous annual bonuses based on how far the set quota is exceeded. As he also employs married women he introduced flexible working hours. His results have been incredible. He hasn't lost one employee to another firm in his industry since he started the company years ago, but gained some of the better ones from his competitors. His office is the smallest in the building, and he is always available to every staff member at any time, and always asks they use only his first name.

To encourage rapport, he occasionally surprises them by paying for a fun weekend project such as skydiving, rock wall climbing, canoeing races etc.

I once paid him a visit in the evening, and was surprised to see people still working. He explained that because he'd introduced flexi hours, they were making up for coming in late. They didn't have to, but they had their eye on that year end bonus.

This man trusted his staff to do their best, take pride in their work and their company, and it has paid off handsomely for them all- boss and staff, in the happiest and most enthusiastic work environment I've ever encountered.

I have observed that competent part time workers often do more in 5 or 6 hours than those who stay at work for 10 hours a day. To many measure hours at work with productivity. Nothing could be further than the truth. In mining many spend hours waiting around for others to complete tasks before they can do their own jobs. It really is a very inefficient industry. A young fellow who boards with me has spent 8 hours at mine sites waiting to do 2 hours work. He has been paid for the whole 10 hours. This is not uncommon.

Has been, this was a butcher shop, not an abettor, besides, that system only worked with tally boning, whereas most abbs today work on chain boning.

Now I am a fast bonner, I can bone four bodies an hour, I can also bone 60+ chooks an hour, yet, under the current system you generally only get paid for the days work, even though you may have done up to two days work of another.

Perhaps we need a system that pays a basic hourly rate, lower than today's, then performance bonuses on top, as that would be very fair.

I say this because today's rates are set at what is considered an industry standard, which means poor workers get over paid and, given the UFD laws, they are often protected and they know it.
The main problem with today's system is the slowest workers often sets the pace.

Of cause, productivity can't be rewarded in all industries, however, in those where it can be, productivity, along with general work standards would be greatly improved if the better worker was rewarded accordingly.

And wouldn't that be a great system, That kind of thinking is one minded. The ones that can't keep up, don't get a job. Australians near and far will not congratulate you for your bloody mindedness.

And that attitude 579, is precisely why Oz can no longer run abattoirs, or many other industries.

The lefty attitude that the competent must pay the full freight of all the incompetent, who can not do the job, plus all those who just won't do the job.

You just might be surprised to find how many Ozzies are sick of carrying the bludgers on their backs.

Why did butch go home after three hours, i am sure there is something else he could have done. The boss employs you for 8 hours so why leave.
Isn't that the attitude that causes trouble in the workplace.
You can't expect to get payd for 8 hours if you only stay for 3 hours.
Hazbeen your ramblings, are not in the employers or workers favor.
Export Abattoirs re subject to US approval, and they make compliance extremely hard to comply. Live export does not help at all.

Pre UFD laws, strong, productive workers were prioritized over poor workers and bludgers.

I can remember a day when a boss could say yes to a great worker, while sacking a poor worker to make room.

Now although I am no fan of UFD laws, I do recognize that we can't live in a dog eat dog world, even if it is unfair to employers, who by the way, simply want the same rights as employees have, they being, the right to pick and choose.

So, along came labor and as they tightened UFD laws, productivity took a dive, and why wouldn't it, if the top workers get paid the same as the bludgers, and believe me, there are plenty of them out there.

Labor spends all this time and money, trying to figure out why our productivity is in decline, yet the answer is staring them in the face, however, just like my mate 579, they simply choose to ignore it.

Well I say, ignore it at your peril, because as most here say, good workers are getting sick of carrying the load for

Now all I am saying, is a fair days work deserves a fair days pay, and what is wrong with that.

Employers still have the right to hire anyone they like as far as i know. A fair day work for a fair days pay. So what is the matter with that. Eight hours of time per day to the employer is normal.
Butch not long ago wanted to pay his employees a different rate for sweeping the floor. That sort of manipulating is not on. If you are employed for a set rate, that is what you get for eight hours.
Don't most employers have job descriptions these days. The ones that do at least know what their employer expects of them.

579,

At the start of my career my company was employed to do a time and motion study in a factory.
The factory owner asked me to first work in that factory for a month and observe fellow workers productivity at their various work stations, which I did.

He then sent in my colleague to do an open study, and the employees were informed this was his intention, and were asked to co-operate. In almost every instance work imperceptibly slowed whilst he was observing them, and productivity dropped accordingly.

The previous co-operation between the workers stopped.

I was never able to ascertain what the owner did to improve productivity once more, but I did hear he had implemented a 'piece work' scheme.

Yoou asked why the butcher did not stay and help someone else after he'd finished his work. The answer to that is that he would have fallen foul of the union who appear to be adamant a worker does only the work he is employed to do. To help a mate with their work is just not on if it's outside of his job description.

579, you said....Why did butch go home after three hours, i am sure there is something else he could have done. The boss employs you for 8 hours so why leave.

You see that was the problem, when I arrived for work, there was a normal 8 hours of work ahead of me, however, I worked very hard and finished the allotted work in 5&1/2 hours and, I was sent home.

This is where the system breaks down, and the standard is set by the lowest denominator. I did the 8 hours work, but got shafted.

Had I have slowed my pace, I would have been paid more, simply because I took longer.

And the powers to be sit there wondering why productivity is in decline, the answer is simple, you don't get rewarded for your hard efforts, so many simply slow down and stretch their work out.

I am not sure where productivity comes into that. If that is what is required by the boss in a day, so be it. It's probably a matter of what he can move in a day. One thing is dependent on another.

Are you for real 579!

It has everything to do with productivity, because, if one is capable of producing much more than the next person, yet get paid the same in an 8 hour day, they usually slow down, as they think, why bother, it's not as if the extra effort is appreciated.

Of cause, as I have already said, it does not apply to all industries or workplaces.

You say...Employers still have the right to hire anyone they like as far as i know.

WRONG! You can no longer let a worker go, in favor of a better worker.

.... A fair day work for a fair days pay. So what is the matter with that. Eight hours of time per day to the employer is normal.

Yes, but if an eight hour day means eight hours of tasks, but you achieve it in say five or six, why shouldn't you get paid for what you've done?

Address this problem and productivity will rise.

I thought we were talking about butcher shops. But now the goal posts are shifting.
Productivity is not for all occasions. Where productivity is needed they pay for no of items over a specified limit.
Manufacturing is for productivity, not how many hamburgers you can make / minute.
No one can do eight hours work in six, the employer wants you there for eight hours so its up to you to fit in.
Employers are best to choose wisely, if they are looking for a more productive worker.
Isn't that the difference between full time and part time employment.
Your services are required for eight hours.

I am simply using a butcher shop as an example, as this scenario can apply to many workplaces.

Chicken boning is a prime example, whereby the employer used to pay per bird, whereas now many have turned to paying per hour and, as a result they struggle to find efficient boners, as a normal boner should bone around 45 birds per hour, whereas a good boner can bone up to 80 per hour.

So, if the quota for the day is say 360 birds per day,( 8 hours x 45 birds), the slow boner gets paid for the full eight hours, while the fast boner only gets paid for 4.5 hours because he/she has run out of work and gets sent home.

So natually the fast boner slows his/her pace and there goes the productivity.

If you reward strong workers for their efforts, productivity will increase.

Of cause the trouble is that unions often become involved and cry fowl, because their aim is usually to protect the weaker workers, keep a check on productivity, in an attempt to preserve jobs.