Preparation/Instructions:
You should structure your response around the following:
1. Issues. Identify the key stakeholders impacted by the minimum wage debate. Explain the issues & perspective of each stakeholder.
2. Analysis. Analyse the issues faced by employers through a lens of sustainability. Focus on the Triple Bottom Line framework discussed in lectures, in particular, the social (people) and economic (profit) elements.
3. Position / critique. Each year, the Fair Work Commission conducts a review of minimum wages. Stakeholders (e.g., employers, associations and universities) have the opportunity to provide a written submission for consideration in the minimum wage review. You are required to prepare a submission from the perspective of employers for consideration in the 2019/20 Annual Wage Review. The submission should:
• Clearly state what increase you are recommending.
• Be justified with evidence.
• Include a critique. This requires you to identify the best possible argument which could be raised in opposition to your position, and for you to refute the argument.
The response length should be 1500 words (+/- 10%) excluding the reference list. It is not necessary to have equal word count for each part above but keep in mind each section is equally weighted (see marking rubric above).
Structure & Formatting
Subheadings should identify each of the 3 sections. You only need to address the 3 areas identified above, i.e., you do not need to write an introduction or conclusion.
The response should be typed using a standard font (e.g. Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial) with a font size of 11 or 12. It must be 1.5 line spaced.
Research & Referencing
Students are required to reference (i.e. use within their document) at least 8 sources, including a minimum of 6 peer reviewed journals. You must distinguish clearly between your own words/analysis and those of your sources using Harvard citations. Failure to provide appropriate citations is plagiarism. Your list of references should only include material cited in the assignment. The reference list will not count towards your final word count. Please consult the Library’s resources for further information about referencing.
There is a folder on iLearn titled ‘Individual Assignment: Recommended reading’. This folder contains some articles & websites which relate to the topic of the report. The purpose of this material is stimulus only – they are not compulsory references. You may wish to cite them as sources but be aware that they are not peer-reviewed journals.
