Speaking in Parliament on the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014, Mr Entsch said it was imperative to reduce the Far North’s unacceptably high levels of business failure and youth unemployment.

He added that despite today’s 24 hour society, flexibility in the workplace has not kept pace with the demands of modern life and the evolving challenges of modern employment.

The proposed Individual Flexibility Arrangements (IFAs) featured in the Bill would allow people to modify their working hours with their employer, avoiding incurring penalty or overtime rates for

the sake of greater flexibility.

“IFAs are designed to help employees to manage child care or other caring arrangements, to spend time with their families or to have time for other commitments,” Mr Entsch said.

“There are key safeguards: an employer cannot force an employee to sign an IFA or make it a condition of their employment… and a worker has to provide a statement to the employer saying that the IFA meets their genuine needs and that they are better off overall.”

Mr Entsch also took a swipe at the impact of high penalty rates on tourism and hospitality businesses, describing “an employment environment where penalty rates have got totally out of control”.

“The inherent nature of tourism means it is not a 9am?5pm enterprise,” he commented. “The very times that tourists are walking the streets looking for a coffee or a meal, the doors are closed ? and these are the times when penalty rates apply.

“It is these rates that make it virtually impossible for businesses to open their doors, pay staff and still make a profit.”

Mr Entsch said there were many people who would rather just be working ? happy with a fair rate of pay and improved flexibility without all the penalties that go with it, and cited his 20?year?old son as an example.

“We have university students or mums who want to work or want more flexibility in their working arrangements, but cannot ? because employers do not want to employ them on a Sunday, a public holiday or outside of the so?called normal working hours because of the high cost of penalty rates.”

Mr Entsch said it was particularly difficult for small businesses that are run as mum?and?dad operations, where “if you cannot afford to employ someone else, you have to do it yourself”.

“By creating more flexibility in the workplace under agreements that ensure workers are better off, as judged by their own particular circumstances, I think there is a huge amount of potential here.

“At the end of the day we want to be a modern, dynamic, flexible economy. This goes hand in hand with creating a productive workforce that will lead to greater prosperity for our community and our country."