The Fair Work legislation has reformed the process of agreement making and the necessary requirements. WorkSight is experienced in the making or enterprise agreements in a range of industries including, education, group training and small businesses. We work with our clients to develop a agreement which explains the terms and conditions of employment for staff that can be read easily by all employees and managers of the organisation.

WorkSight works with their clients to ensure they meet the requirements of the Act including:

• the operation of the National Employment Standard (NES) which provides a set of legislative minima;
• the types of enterprise agreements that can be used;
• representation during bargaining;
• bargaining in good faith;
• permitted matters;
• mandatory and required terms;
• unlawful terms;
• pay rates under an enterprise agreement;
• the better-off overall test;
• the procedural steps required to make agreements;
• varying and terminating agreements; and
• managing the application process and required appearance before Fair Work Australia.

What are the benefits of an enterprise agreement?

• An enterprise agreement can provide certainty of entitlements and consistency in the terms and conditions of employment adopted across the organisation in circumstances where a number of awards could apply to various categories of staff.
• An enterprise agreement initiated by you enables terms and conditions of employment suitable to your business to be advanced and limits the implementation of a union template agreement
• Classification structures can be developed which suit the needs of the organisation and which allow staff to work across different parts of the organisation without being limited by award coverage and classification structures of separate awards.
• Payroll resources can be streamlined e.g. arranging pay increases at a time that suits the payroll calendar, payroll implementing one agreement rather than multiple awards.
• Employers can develop their own wages policy and have more control over payroll and provide some budget certainty for the period of the agreement and beyond, whereas there can be some uncertainty about the level of future wage increases granted to employees through the award system.
• The organisation can develop terms and conditions that are suited to its own operations and better control human resources matters.
• Staff involvement in the development of an enterprise agreement can be used to identify issues that will enhance employee commitment to the organisation.
• The development of an agreement at a time that suits the organisation is preferable to the situation that may arise if the union seeks an agreement at a time when the organisation is not prepared or has limited resources to devote to the process.