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

Sasha Holley, Glenda Maconachie and Miles Goodwin

The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 2015, vol. 26, issue 1, 43-59

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: Cleaners; enforcement; government procurement contracts; minimum labour standards (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J81 J88 L59 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:26:y:2015:i:1:p:43-59

DOI: 10.1177/1035304614546450

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