Posts: Enterprise Agreement

In a timely reminder about the importance of carefully drafting enterprise agreements, the Federal Court of Australia – Full Court has recently determined a dispute about the definition of “ordinary time earnings” in a particular enterprise agreement. In doing so, the Full Court confirmed that departures from the plain text of an enterprise agreement will not be justified (unless there is an absurdity or a very seriously anomalous result).

In December 2022, the Federal Government passed the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (Cth) resulting in several significant changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). These changes have and will come into effect on various dates, with the latest wave of amendments being live as of 6 June 2023.

The passing of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (Cth) has resulted in several significant changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). With some of these changes already in force, employers must now turn their minds to 6 June 2023 – the date of which the next wave of amendments will take effect.

Casual Employment, Supply Chain, Contracts, Gig Economy, Restraints of Trade, Enterprise Agreements, Work Health & Safety.

“It has become extremely difficult to get enterprise agreements through the FWC, largely in light of the loaded rates decision that came out earlier this year,”

One of the fundamental principles of the employment relationship is the work-wages bargain – an employer pays an employee wages in exchange for work performed.

At the commencement of bargaining for a proposed enterprise agreement, employers are required to give relevant employees a notice of employee representational rights (NERR).

It has often been the case that “managers” and senior officers of an enterprise will not be covered by a modern award or enterprise agreement.

A teenage employee of a yoghurt shop has successfully applied to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for the termination of a workplace collective agreement.

While it is often an unpleasant process, in some circumstances (depending on the nature of the workforce) employers may choose to call for expressions of interest for voluntary redundancies before moving to compulsory redundancies.

On 8 October 2015 Justices Jessup, Bromberg and White of the Federal Court of Australia handed down separate judgments relating to the La Trobe University Enterprise Agreement. This decision may now see employers paying closer attention to what is contained within their policies and enterprise agreements.

Employers are often left completely surprised when an employee makes a claim for overtime payments they claim to have worked over the course of their employment.

In order for an Enterprise Agreement to be approved by the Fair Work Commission under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act), the proposed agreement must pass the ‘better off over all test’ (the BOOT).

In Duncan Hart v Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd and Bi-Lo Pty Limited T/A Coles and Bi-Lo; the Coles Store Team Enterprise Agreement 2014-17 (the Coles Agreement) came under scrutiny. In particular, matters were raised as to whether or not the employees to be employed under the Coles Agreement were better off under the Coles Agreement or under the General Retail Industry Award 2010.

As has been widely reported, for the last three years there have been ongoing tensions between the United Fire Fighters Union (UFU) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA). The main reason for the tension is that the parties have not been able to agree on a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA).

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) requires Enterprise Agreements to include a consultation clause obliging employers to consult with their employees about “major workplace change” or a change in regular rostering or ordinary hours of work.

In Australia, we rely on statutory declarations for a range of purposes, from declaring identity details when documents are lost to making statements about particular situations, including in the employment context.

Reward and recognition programs are a great way to incentivise employees to work that little bit harder. Often these programs take the form of friendly, employer-sponsored competitions between employees where the winner takes home a prize.

Earlier this month, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) Full Bench handed down its decision in relation to an application to deal with a dispute in accordance with the dispute settlement procedure in the Kentz Pty Ltd Ichthys Onshore Construction Greenfields Agreement (the EBA). This decision was an appeal of an earlier decision by Commissioner Bissett with respect to the interpretation of clause 19 of the EBA that related to payments into income protection insurance schemes.