What we’ve been following this week: Gendered tax cuts, workplace safety, and middle management redundancies

Federal tax cuts and the benefits in store for working women, concerns with SafeWork NSW, and expected middle management redundancies across the US are just a few of the stories the HR world has been fixed on over the past week.

Women win under federal tax budget

From 1 July, Australian women will, on average, receive a tax cut of $1,649 under the federal government’s new tax plan, announced federal Minister for Women Katy Gallagher. In all, 90 per cent of women stand to gain from the cuts.

To clarify, the reforms are not specifically gendered but rather will arise from the difference in average earnings of Australian women as opposed to men.

Treasury modelling found that since women make up the majority of people earning under $75,000 per year in Australia and only 30 per cent of those earning above $128,000 per year, their tax cut will be larger than that of the average male.

While the tax cut is not overtly gendered, Ms Gallagher said Labor “has applied a clear gender impact lens over the changes to measure the significant benefit that these tax cuts will have for women.”

It’s worth noting that the cuts are not zero-sum. In other words, men are no worse off because of the cuts. In fact, compared with the prior stage three model, men are expected to save $30 in tax.

Ms Gallagher also added that childcare workers, disability carers and aged-care workers are among the most likely to benefit as more than 95 per cent will receive a bigger tax cut than was predicted under the former government’s tax plan.

“These changes are deliberately designed to ensure that those in middle Australia get to keep more of the money they earn without adding to inflationary pressures,” said Ms Gallagher.

NSW workplace safety regulator accused of being ‘timid, ineffectual’

This past week, ABC News got its hands on a series of “withering” submissions detailing the “inner workings and failings” of SafeWork NSW – the state’s workplace safety regulator. The irony was not lost on the reporters.

The submissions were made to NSW Supreme Court retired justice Robert McDougall, who had been commissioned to conduct a review into the regulator’s conduct. Reportedly, the submissions – made by workers, unions, inspectors, and victims – detail dozens of accounts of regulatory failures “from construction to healthcare.”

Former justice McDougall has submitted a report and recommendations arising from the review to the NSW government, both of which are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The review was commissioned after State Parliament heard reports of bullying within the regulatory body, as well as allegations that it was no longer fit for purpose and that a culture of silence was encouraged as staff were ordered to “shut up, see nothing, do nothing”.

Among the submissions was a “blistering” missive from the Nurses and Midwives Association, representing 75,000 nurses and midwives, which told of an “ineffective regulator against a backdrop of workers in the healthcare and social assistance sector experiencing the highest numbers of serious injuries of any industry, and rising at alarming rates”, explained ABC News.

An elegy for middle management

In other news, BBC Worklife this week reported on the astronomical number of apparently indiscriminate redundancies across the US in recent months – from eBay and Amazon to Citigroup, Macy’s, and the Los Angeles Times.

Specifically, the article implored businesses to think twice before doing what they usually do in redundancy season: concentrate their culls on the “much maligned, but always necessary” middle management.

“These workers do most of the people management in a company, and in recent years, their responsibilities have grown amid the difficult dance of remote management,” said Bill Schaninger, senior partner at Modern Executive Solutions.

“In addition to managing the workload and skill development of their direct reports, many are also responsible for protecting their teams’ mental health and ensuring inclusion and equity in nearly every aspect of working life,” added BBC Worklife.

Why, then, are they so often volunteered for the chopping block?

According to the article, it’s because they are more expensive than their employees. More than this, getting rid of one leadership layer can help flatten the organisational structure, thereby making the business more responsive to changing priorities among upper leadership.

Despite the benefits, Schaninger said businesses that take this path “more often than not, will suffer mightily”.