Michelotti, M: Employment Protection Regimes in Australia an

The primary objective of this book is to measure and compare the evolution of labour standards in Australia and Italy over the 1979-2000 period.In order to achieve this aim, non-parametric absolute indexes are generated for each country for 1979 and 2000 to assess the strength of the following standards: minimum wage, overtime, paid time off, unemployment/employment insurance, workers compensation, collective bargaining, equal employment opportunity/employment equity, unfair dismissal, occupational health and safety and large- scale layoffs.The main finding of the study is that the Australian and Italian employment protection systems converged over the 1979-2000 period. Both countries increased the protection accorded to labour standards although one index, collective bargaining, significantly decreased in Australia following the downgrading of compulsory conciliation and arbitration and the decentralisation of the locus of bargaining. This development proved to be crucial as it seriously undermined Labour s capacity to bargain with Capital in the antipodal country.