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Government procurement contracts and minimum labour standards enforcement: Rhetoric, duplication and distraction?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Sasha Holley ,
Glenda Maconachie  and
Miles Goodwin
Sasha Holley*
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Australia
Glenda Maconachie
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Miles Goodwin
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
*
Sasha Holley, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia. Email: sasha.holley@mq.edu.au
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Abstract

Government contracts for services typically include terms requiring contractors to comply with minimum labour standards laws. Procurement contract clauses specify reporting procedures and sanctions for non-compliance, implying that government contracting agencies will monitor and enforce minimum labour standards within contract performance management. In this article, the case of school cleaners employed under New South Wales government contracts between 2010 and 2011 is the vehicle for exploring the effectiveness of these protective clauses. We find that the inclusion of these protective clauses in procurement contracts is unnecessary in the Australian context, and any expectations that government contracting agencies will monitor and enforce labour standards are misleading. At best, the clauses are rhetoric, and at worst, they are a distraction for parties with enforcement powers.

Keywords

J880J810L590Cleanersenforcementgovernment procurement contractsminimum labour standards
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 43 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014

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