-American industry trends may well influence the technology sector, however, any influence [in Australia] is subject to our employee and employer awards and agreements," a departmental spokesperson for the Federal Industrial Relations told ZDNet.
As part of cost saving steps, technology companies in the US have adopted an unusual practice of 'asking' dot com employees to take mandatory pay cuts or unpaid leave.
Recently in Australia it was reported that Hewlett Packard would follow the US's lead and apply the same practice to its 1300 workforce.
HP's cost-cutting measures are said to run from next month to October this year, where employees will be asked to take a 10 percent pay cut, or eight of their paid leave days, or a combination of a five percent pay cut and four leave days.
-There would be a mix of contracts such as enterprise agreements or awards within any major type of employment relationship in Australia," a spokesperson for the NSW Department of Industrial Relations said.
-You can ask people but you cannot force them."
The mandatory Friday off may be a blessing in disguise for some technology employees, but for those covered by contracts such as enterprise agreements it may result in a battle of wills between the employer and employee.
-We have a much more regulated labour market than the US. A large percentage of workers are on awards, there is no way a company can force pay cuts or leave on employees," the spokesperson said.
As a general rule the US practice would not be able to occur in Australia because the technology industry is not cyclical like factories, which are able to shut down over the Christmas period and enforce leave, according to the spokesperson.
If a tech company, however, did give one month's notice to take annual leave, this practice could occur.
An employment contract does stipulate an arrangement made prior to starting the job so a pay cut could not be enforceable, the spokesperson said.
IDC analyst Ian Webster says in the technology sector employees tend not to take holidays so there is a lot of leave accumulated. He believes the mandatory Friday off is good in order to refresh resources.
-It gives them time to get out and smell the roses rather than having their head stuck in front of a computer," Webster said.
-As long as customer service doesn't suffer."
