Australia’s workplace oversight body, the FairWork Ombudsman, has queried Cricket Australia’s contract clauses around female players
Daniel Brettig17-Dec-2016Australia’s workplace oversight body, the FairWork Ombudsman, has queried Cricket Australia’s contract clauses around female players, compelling the chief executive James Sutherland to state that policies relating to “pregnancy, maternity leave and carer support” are all under urgent review.Sutherland confirmed that the ombudsman had been in contact with CA on Friday, following the raising of issues around female contracts in news coverage of ongoing pay negotiations between the board and the Australian Cricketers Association. While stating that CA will co-operate fully with any investigation, Sutherland lashed out at the ACA for how the contract clauses had come to light, adding that the players association had agreed to them in the first place.”We will co-operate fully with the Ombudsman, and welcome their inquiries because it is always our intention to provide the best support for all our players,” Sutherland said. “We are extremely disappointed that this issue has been raised by the ACA.”Their senior executives were fully involved in negotiating, amending and then agreeing on the contract for women players in the first half of 2015. As the ACA has shown no objection to this contract, they should take responsibility for their role in developing the current policy.”Late on Saturday the ACA responded to Sutherland’s criticism of the decision to publicly raise the issues around CA’s pregnancy policy for female players.* “In the formation of the ACA’s MOU submission, female players having to warrant they were not pregnant was one issue among many that was raised by our members throughout our consultation,” the ACA said in a statement.”The ACA rejects the proposition that it should not have raised the issue; silence is not the solution. It is critical that these areas are addressed throughout the MOU process.”Furthermore, to hear that female players stand to receive better terms and conditions under a new MOU is pleasing and we will be working to ensure that all players are protected under a new agreement. Eighteen months ago, the ACA was consulted on the development of the relevant policy and contract, and suggested some improvements which CA accepted. CA said yesterday it took expert advice on the policy at the time it was issued.”Further heat had been placed on CA by a interview overnight with the ECB director of cricket Clare Connor, who stated that all England women players were eligible for the same maternity leave entitlements offered to all ECB employees, and that they were not required to declare whether or not they were pregnant before signing a contract.”The situation with England players is very different from that,” Connor said. “We treat our centrally contracted players as we would treat any other female non-playing ECB employee. So, they are supported by the full terms of our maternity conditions for all employees, so Heather Knight would be treated the same as me, for example. And they are certainly not required to declare if they are pregnant before signing their ECB contract.”I think Cricket Australia have responded to what came out in the press by saying that this clause is to protect the players and to make sure that the medical officers and the physios and everybody are fully aware of the health status of their players. I think, in this day and age, you can’t mandate such things. I think it is up to an individual to take responsibility for their own health and whether they are putting themselves or an unborn baby at risk by playing sport, and in terms of the progression of a possible pregnancy. So, it doesn’t make great reading, does it?”Sutherland denied the above clause had been a stumbling block for women players signing to play in CA sanctioned competitions. “As I said yesterday, the pregnancy clause has never affected a female player’s right to sign a contract, and we have never, nor would we ever, discriminate against anyone on those grounds,” he said. “It has only been about ensuring the safety of our players.”Despite this, we will continue to focus on ensuring Cricket Australia does the very best for our women players to grow their game and encourage more girls and women to pick up a bat and ball, with their health and safety always at the forefront of everything we do.”Another issue expected to be placed under the spotlight is the discrepancy in medical support offered to women players in the Women’s National Cricket League, the equivalent of the Sheffield Shield. A doctor is a mandatory presence at all men’s matches, plus Women’s BBL games, but WNCL matches are only served by the presence of a paramedic.*09.55GMT, December 17: This article was updated with the ACA statement
