Navigating Employment And Labour Relations In Australia.

8 July, 2017

 

The centrepiece of the Australian industrial relations legislative framework is the Fair Work Act 2009.

 

The national system created by the Fair Work Act is likely to govern Australian employment and labour relations in a relatively settled way for some years to come. The Australian Productivity Commission released their report on 21 December 2015 following an inquiry into the features of the Australian workplace relations framework. The Federal Government is yet to respond in full to this report.

 

Individual employment relationships

 

Employment is contractual at its base. This applies to an employee working under a collective industrial agreement as much as for staff or senior managers.

 

All employees – whether truck drivers or marketing managers – have contracts of employment.

 

The terms of a contract of employment can be found in a variety of sources. There is no special form required. 

 

While a contract of employment may be set out in an elaborate document expressed to be a contract, it is common for employment contracts not to be recorded this way. Other sources of contractual terms are likely to include:

 

• a letter of appointment;
• memos to and from employees about matters such as wage rates;
• oral communications, especially at the time of recruitment or at the time of a promotion;
• a course of dealings; and
• a certain and well known industry usage.

 

There are some contractual provisions, also, which the courts say are present by implication in a contract of employment. For example, there is a duty of good faith and fidelity which binds an employee whether or not it is expressly written down. In the case of an indefinitely continuing employment contract which does not provide for termination, the courts may imply a term to the effect that it may be terminated by either side upon reasonable notice.

 

Collective employment relationships

 

Collective enterprise agreements and industrial awards operate in conjunction with individual contracts of employment between employer and employee. Typically, they provide a base which must not be undercut. They will override a contract of employment where there is inconsistency, but usually not if it is possible to comply both with the contract, on the one hand, and the award or enterprise agreement, on the other.

 

For example, if an applicable award provides a wage rate of $650 per week, a contract of employment which provides for only $600 per week will not relieve the employer of the obligation to pay what the award prescribes; but if the contract provides for $700 per week, the employer will be required to comply both with the award and the contract of employment and pay the full contractual rate of $700 per week.

 

National Employment Standards

 

There is a set of statutory national employment standards applicable to all employees at all levels. These are:

 

• maximum weekly working hours of 38 plus reasonable additional hours;
• a right to request, and have considered, flexible working arrangements;
• unpaid parental leave – maternity, paternity and adoption (an additional entitlement to limited paid parental leave operates as well);
• annual leave – generally four weeks;
• personal leave (including sick leave), carer’s leave and compassionate leave;
• long service leave more commonly dealt with under state legislation;
• public holidays;
• notice of termination of employment;
• redundancy pay; and
• provision of a “Fair Work Information Statement”.

 

Awards

 

So-called modern awards, operating in respect of broadly defined industry or occupational groups, interact with and add to the national employment standards for most employees other than executive or managerial employment categories. 

 

Modern awards deal with matters such as minimum wages, employment categories (full time, part time, casual, etc), hours of work and overtime, shift work arrangements and penalties, various allowances and leave matters. 

 

There is a facility for employers and “high income employees” earning over $142,000 (as at July 2017, a figure indexed annually) to agree to opt out of application of a modern award which would otherwise apply.

 

A minority of enterprises are governed instead by historical enterprise-specific awards. These awards have their origin in earlier legislative regimes but, where applicable, continue to operate on a similar minimum or safety net basis and displace otherwise applicable modern awards.

 

Enterprise agreements

 

Although there is a facility for multi-enterprise agreements, collective enterprise agreements usually relate to a single business, project or undertaking, or a discrete part of a single business, project or undertaking. There is also a capacity for a greenfields agreement in circumstances where a new enterprise is being established.

 

Enterprise agreements may cover the following matters:

 

a) matters pertaining to the employment relationship;

b) matters pertaining to the relationship between the employer and relevant unions;

c) deductions from wages for any purpose authorised by an employee; and

d) how the agreement will operate – ie. machinery matters.

 

There is a maximum term of four years for all enterprise agreements.

 

Enterprise agreements operate to the exclusion of awards but in conjunction with the national employment standards. Both must be complied with. 

 

An enterprise agreement other than a greenfields agreement must have the prior approval of a valid majority of employees employed in the enterprise who will be covered by the agreement.

 

Enterprise agreements are required to pass a better-off overall test, administered by a government tribunal known as the Fair Work Commission. In short, the proposed agreement is measured against the award provisions which, but for the agreement, would apply to see if they are, in a global way, met and exceeded. Once an enterprise agreement is approved and while it operates, the award against which the agreement was measured ceases for the time being to apply.

 

Representative role of trade unions

 

One of the central themes of the Fair Work Act 2009 concerns the role of trade unions as representatives of employees.

 

For example:

 

• The legislation puts a priority on collective enterprise bargaining in which unions have an entrenched and privileged role.
• A union with membership within a workplace is assumed to be a bargaining representative responsible for each member in an enterprise bargaining environment unless something is done by the member in question to alter that outcome.
• Unions have an entrenched workplace rights enforcement role, with statutory rights of access to courts and tribunals independent of the employees represented.
• A particularly significant right of a union is the statutory right of entry to a workplace.

 

Union right of entry

 

A union is entitled, through an officer or employee holding a relevant permit, to enter premises in each of these

situations:

 

• Where it is suspected that a breach has occurred or is occurring under the Fair Work Act 2009 or an operative award or enterprise agreement. For the purpose of investigating the suspected breach, the union official may enter, during working hours, any premises where employees work who are members of the relevant organisation. There are then powers to inspect and copy timesheets, inspect work, interview relevant employees, and so on.
• During employee meal breaks and other such periods, for the purpose of holding discussions with employees who are members or eligible to be members of the union and who wish to participate in the discussions. This applies whether or not the work being carried out is governed by an enterprise agreement which binds the union in question and whether or not the union has members in the workplace. The governing criterion is whether the union has the capacity, under its rules, to enrol as a member and represent the industrial interests of at least one person employed in the workplace.
• Under state or territory occupational health and safety laws in connection with workplace health and safety issues provided it is done in conformity with the rules and procedures established in the Fair Work Act 2009.

 

In all of these right of entry situations:

 

• the person seeking to exercise the right of entry must produce the permit when requested; and
• if the purpose is to hold discussions with employees, the person seeking to exercise the right of entry must have given the occupier of the premises at least 24 hours (and not more than 14 days) written notice of the intention to do so.

 

If a union official abuses his or her entitlements, or fails a fit and proper person test, the permit can be revoked.

 

Staff relationships

 

Many employees do not relate to their employers through formal enterprise or similar agreements. These employees, often referred to colloquially as staff, simply operate in an environment created by contracts of employment, legislation and company policy.

 

There is no impediment to this style of employment relationship stemming from the Fair Work Act 2009. It is routinely pursued in the case of managerial, administrative and clerical staff, sales personnel, supervisors and the like. It can be pursued in the case of employees who belong to unions and could otherwise be covered by collective enterprise agreements, provided the employees are willing to accept and live by such arrangements.

 

There are some advantages and disadvantages in following this course. Advantages of a staff employment approach include that it does not introduce a periodic collective bargaining cycle, and it can help foster direct relations between employer and employees taking into account business imperatives and values relevant to the employment. A principal disadvantage of a staff employment approach is that it affords much less protection for an employer against industrial action if a group of employees becomes disaffected or if a union manages to impose itself.

 

Transfer of business

 

An employer will generally be bound by an enterprise agreement in respect of a transferring employee binding on a predecessor employer if:

 

a) the employment of the employee with the predecessor employer has terminated (no matter how);

 

b) within three months, the employee has become an employee of the new employer;

 

c) the work (the transferring work) the employee performs for the new employer is the same, or substantially the same, as the work the employee performed for the old employer; and

 

d) one of four relevant connection requirements is satisfied.

 

The four possible connections, any of which will suffice, are:

 

• the new employer (or an associated entity) has the beneficial use of assets used by the old employer, or an associated entity, and which relate to or are used in connection with the transferring work;
• the new employer is an outsourced provider for the old employer (or an associated entity);
• there having been such an outsourcing, the work is now being “insourced”; or
• the new employer and the old employer are associated legal entities.

 

There are also detailed provisions dealing with the circumstances in which a new employer must recognise employment service and credits earned during employment by a predecessor employer.

 

Protected industrial action

 

The Fair Work Act 2009 contemplates that taking industrial action will be permitted and “protected” in particular situations, and that it should be unavailable in all other situations.

 

Industrial action will be protected where it is engaged in by employees (through strikes or bans) or by an employer (through a responsive lockout) in a formal enterprise bargaining context in the lead-up to the making of an enterprise agreement.

Industrial action may be taken where:

 

• the industrial action is confined to the single business;
• there has been a genuine attempt made to negotiate;
• in the case of employee action, a secret ballot order has been obtained from the Fair Work Commission and the industrial action has been agreed upon by the workforce in a secret ballot;
• there is no in-term enterprise agreement in operation;
• the industrial action is only in pursuit of claims which could be included in an enterprise agreement;
• the industrial action is not in support of pattern bargaining claims; and
• certain other stipulations are met such as giving three days prior notice (except if acting in retaliation).

 

Where industrial action is taken, those involved are protected from any legal action as a consequence.

 

The Fair Work Commission has power in various circumstances to intervene by terminating or suspending the industrial action. It has power in limited circumstances to resolve the issues in dispute by compulsory arbitration.

 

Dealing with unlawful industrial action

 

The various types of industrial action to which an employer might be subject include:

 

• action by employees about concerns connected with their employment; and
• action by employees about concerns relating to other employees – e.g. secondary boycotts or sympathy strikes.

 

The options available to deal with such industrial action will depend on its type and all of the circumstances. They can include remedies available under the Fair Work Act 2009, actions under the federal Competition and Consumer Act 2010, common law actions and unilateral action such as “no work no pay” and dismissals. They might also include simply sitting out the industrial action.

 

Is the industrial action protected?

 

A critical issue is whether or not the industrial action is protected action.

 

If the action is protected, an employer will have only limited access to third party intervention but could respond with industrial action of its own by locking employees out of the workplace.

 

If the industrial action is not protected, other options potentially arise. These options are not mutually exclusive. Some main options, other than sitting out the industrial action, are:

 

• to apply to Fair Work Commission for an order to stop or prevent the action;
• to invoke “no work no pay” procedures of employees engaging in selective work bans and stand downs of other staff rendered idle;
• if the industrial action involves matters dealt with in a current enterprise agreement (or in a workplace determination made following compulsory termination of protracted protected action), or if it involves unlawful coercion or pattern bargaining claims, to apply to the Federal Court or Federal Circuit Court for an injunction to prevent the unlawful industrial action and/or for the imposition of penalties;
• if the industrial action involves secondary or other unlawful boycott conduct, to apply to the Federal Court for an injunction and/or damages; or
• if the industrial action is tortious, to commence an action for an injunction or damages in the ordinary courts.

 

Please click on the image to enlarge.

 

Limits on certain senior management employment termination benefits

 

Section 200B of the Corporations Act 2001 prohibits a company from giving a person a benefit (even if required to do so by contract) in connection with retirement from office or position of employment in a company (or related entity) if the office or position is a managerial or executive office (or the person in question has held such a managerial or executive office in the last three years) in the company or a related entity. The prohibition operates unless:

 

a) one of a number of limited exemptions applies; or

 

b) the benefit is given with shareholder approval under section 200E of the Corporations Act.

 

For a company required under section 300A of the Corporations Act to include details of key management personnel in a remuneration report, a person holds a managerial or executive office in the company during the year if those details were included in the previous year’s report. For other companies, a managerial or executive office is:

 

• an office of director; and
• any other office or position in connection with the management of the company’s affairs which is held by a person who also holds an office of director in the company or a related body corporate.

 

The essential scheme is to limit termination benefits (broadly defined) to not more than the amount of salary (narrowly defined) received in the previous 12 months unless shareholder approval has been obtained for payment of the termination benefits.

 

These provisions are complex and difficult. It is very important to obtain competent legal advice prior to making employment termination payments which might be affected by the Corporations Act limits.

 

Dealing with dismissals

 

The Fair Work Act 2009 provides remedies, subject to various exceptions, for an employee who has been unfairly dismissed from employment. These remedies are applicable to an employee earning not more than $142,000 per annum for the financial year ending 30 June 2018 (a figure which is indexed on 1 July each year) and any other employee employed under the terms of an award or enterprise agreement.

 

Two critical exceptions (among others) to the right to claim a remedy in the Fair Work Commission about a potentially unfair dismissal are:

 

• if the employee has not served a qualifying period of at least six months in the employment (twelve months in a small business), and
• if the dismissal is due to a genuine redundancy, and redeployment within the employer (or an associated employer) is not reasonably available.

 

There is also an action available in the Federal Court or Federal Circuit Court on the basis of an unlawful dismissal motivated by (amongst others) matters such as:

 

• temporary absence from work because of illness or injury;
• membership or non-membership of a trade union;
• race, colour, sex, sexual preference, age, physical or mental disability, marital status; or
• family responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.

 

The relevant tribunal may dismiss the application if satisfied the termination was not unfair or unlawful. Alternatively, if the case is made out, it may reinstate the employee into the former employment or award compensation.

 

There are also remedies made available by a variety of other legislative sources according to circumstances. For example, if the situation involves an allegation of unlawful discrimination there will be a potential for actions under state or federal discrimination laws.

 

The contractual obligations owed by an employer to an employee must not be overlooked. There will often be a potential for an action for damages for breach of contract in a contested employment termination situation. Such an action may be run independently of the statutory unfair dismissal claim or, in some situations, in tandem with the statutory claim in consolidated proceedings brought in the Federal Court.

 

Other Protections, referred to as General Protections

 

General protections:

 

• protect workplace rights;
• protect freedom of association;
• provide protection from workplace discrimination; and
• provide effective relief for persons who have been discriminated against, victimised, or have experienced other unfair treatment.

 

An employer must not take any “adverse action” against an employee because the employee has a workplace right, has exercised a workplace right or proposes to exercise that workplace right.

 

Adverse actions that can be taken against an employee or potential employee might include:

 

• dismissal;
• not giving the employee his or her legal entitlements;
• changing the employee’s job to his or her disadvantage;
• treating the employee differently than others;
• not hiring the person; or
• offering an employee or prospective employee different (and unfair) terms and conditions, compared to other employees.

 

Workplace rights include:

 

• receiving a benefit or having a role or responsibility under a workplace law (such as the Fair Work Act), a workplace instrument (such as a modern award or enterprise agreement), or an order made by an industrial body (such as an order made by the Fair Work Commission);
• commencing or participating in a process or proceeding under a workplace law or instrument (such as taking court action); and
• being able to make a complaint or inquiry about employment.

 

An employer must not take adverse action against an employee because the employee engages in or proposes to engage in “industrial activity” such as belonging to or participating in a union or participating in lawful industrial action.

 

Discrimination

 

The legislative framework for discrimination in Australia is quite complicated. While Commonwealth legislation applies throughout Australia, states and territories also have laws relating to discrimination. Employees are usually able to choose whether to bring a complaint under Commonwealth or state or territory legislation.

 

At the federal level, there are four main general statues dealing with discrimination. Each deals with a particular characteristic or set of characteristics:

 

• Racial Discrimination Act 1975 – prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin. An exception is made for the purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals in order to give them equal rights and freedoms with other groups;
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984 – prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender (male or female), marital status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, breastfeeding and family responsibilities;
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 – prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or intellectual disability, and includes a genetic predisposition to a disability; and
• Age Discrimination Act 2004 – prohibits discrimination on the basis of age.

 

The Fair Work Act also allows an employee to bring an application about alleged discrimination because of an attribute including race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or carer’s responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction and/or social origin.

 

Bullying

 

An employee who reasonably believes that he or she has been bullied at work can apply to the Fair Work Commission for an order to stop the bullying.

 

Bullying is said to occur when:

 

• a person or a group of persons repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards an employee or a group of employees at work; and 
• the behaviour creates a risk to health and safety. 

 

Bullying behaviour may involve, for example, any of the following types of behaviour:

 

• aggressive or intimidating conduct;
• belittling or humiliating comments;
• spreading malicious rumours;
• teasing, practical jokes or “initiation ceremonies”;
• exclusion from work-related events;
• unreasonable work expectations, including too much or too little work, or work below or beyond a worker’s skill level;
• displaying offensive material; and/or
• pressure to behave in an inappropriate manner.

 

Where reasonable management action is carried out in a reasonable manner, this will not constitute bullying. 

 

Reasonable management action may include:

 

• performance management processes;
• disciplinary action for misconduct;
• informing an employee about unsatisfactory work performance or inappropriate work behaviour;
• asking an employee to perform reasonable duties in keeping with their job; and
• maintaining reasonable workplace goals and standards.

 

The Fair Work Commission must start to deal with an application within 14 days. Apart from dismissing the application, it has powers to make such order as it considers appropriate (other than an order requiring payment of money) to prevent the employee from being bullied at work by an individual or group.

 

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Woodbury, Partner, Ashurst

stephen.woodbury@ashurst.com