We have written previously about how sick the current enterprise bargaining system is in Australia. In our experience, the current enterprise agreement approval process is the slowest it has ever been. There are a number of reasons why this may be the case – the introduction of a ‘triage’ team who...
This includes errors concerning the requirements relating to the Notice of Employee Representational Rights. The Explanatory Memorandum to the legislation explains that the measure promotes collective bargaining because it enables the FWC to approve enterprise agreements that it would previously...
Recent political and even Reserve Bank commentary remarks upon how wages growth has stalled, although the causes attributed to it vary. What is clear is that low wages growth is not limited to the Australian economy, but is a feature of many advanced economies, including the US. Recently, Judith...
Since the Coles Supermarkets decision , there has been considerable uncertainty as to what the FWC will accept as meeting the Better-Off-Overall Test, colloquially knows as the ‘BOOT’, for enterprise agreements similar to the Coles version, that attempt to provide loaded rates in return for buying...
In July 2015 the COLES STORE TEAM ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT was lodged with the FWC for approval, which was duly granted by Commissioner Geoff Bull after some discussion and undertakings were provided by Coles. Many agreements have taken the same path, however it has not been smooth sailing for Coles...
Author Fred Bolling, Special Consultant Each time you “fend off” a large number of these claims, but you feel somewhat obliged in each renegotiation to give something, although you feel you get nothing in return. After a few rounds of negotiations over several years, you realize that your EBA is...
Earlier this week the Federal Coalition Government and the Palmer United Party made a deal which keeps employer’s guaranteed superannuation payments at their current rates of 9.5% until 2021, and not reach 12% until 2025. Previously, under Labor it was to gradually increase from 9% to 12% between 1...
Whilst the Abbott Federal Government is still negotiating its way through being able to get its legislative agenda through the Senate, one piece of draft legislation may already be affecting how businesses in the Building and Construction industry conduct their operations and deal with unions. A...
A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has highlighted the difficulty many employers will face if they wish to terminate an expired enterprise agreement – even with the overwhelming support of the majority of the employees covered by the expired agreement.
In a recent decision an agreement approval application was refused by Senior Deputy President (SDP) O’Callaghan, due to concerns that the employees to be covered by the proposed agreement had not genuinely understood and agreed to the terms.
