awards and agreements

Question 1

what are 6 of the 11 national employment standards?

Answer 1

• maximum weekly hours
• annual leave
• parental leave
• public holidays
• changing from casual to permanent
• notice of termination

Question 2

what are awards?

Answer 2

• a legally binding document determined by the fair work commission that sets out minimum wages and conitions for whole industries or occupations

conditions in the award must be at least as good as set out by the national employement standards

awards are reviewed every 4 years

Question 3

what are advantages of awards from the business’ perspective?

Answer 3

• cheaper for the business as they are only providing the minimums
• no need to spend time negotiating
• fewer disputes over wages due to no ability to negotiate at enterprise level
• provides a safety net for employees, ensuring they cannot receive wages or conditions below

Question 4

what are disadvantages of awards from the business’ perspective?

Answer 4

• may be more challenging to find talented employees (minimum)
• less flexibility to tailor wages and conditions to the needs of the business and employees
• business may need to implement multiple awards

Question 5

what are individual employment contract?

Answer 5

• covers those employees who are not under any award or collective/enterprise agreements

these contracts could provide better conditions

Question 6

what are collective agreements (enterpris agreement)?

Answer 6

• an agreement on pay and conditions of work made at the workplace level and negotiated between groups of employees (or represented by their union) and employers

Question 7

what is enterprise bargaining?

Answer 7

where both parties enter negotiations in good faith, the agreement is submitted to the FWC, it is signed by both parties and has an expiry date

Question 8

what are advantages of enterprise bargaining?

Answer 8

• highly flexible - wages and conditions can be tailored to needs
• can attract and retain high quality employees
• productivity gains can be rewarded with higher wages/improved conditions

Question 9

what are similarities between awards and agreements?

Answer 9

• both have fixed terms (awards = 4years and agreements = 2-3 years)
• both have to contain pay and working conditions equal to or better than the national employment standard
• both have to be approved by the fair work commission

Question 10

what are differences between awards and agreements?

Answer 10

• awards cover employees in an industry whilst enterprise agreements apply to employees at a workplace
• enterprise agreements are negotiated between employee and employer while awards are determined by the fair work comission
• enterprise agreements have better conditions compared to awards ( pay and working conditions)