Awards and agreements

Question 1

National employment standards

Answer 1

The fair work act sets out 10 minimum employment entitlements known as the national employment standards, a copy of which must be provided to all employees. An award, employment contract or enterprise agreement cannot provide for conditions that are less than the national minimum wage or the NES. All employees are legally entitled to the NES.
• 10 NES entitlements:
o Maximum weekly hours of work
o Request for flexible working arrangements
o Parental leave and related entitlements
o Annual leave
o Personal/carers leave and compassionate leave
o Long service leave
o Community service leave
o Public holidays
o Notice of termination and redundancy pay

Question 2

Awards

Answer 2

An award is a legal document which outlines the minimum wages and conditions of work across the entire industry. Awards are reviewed by the fair work commission approximately every four years to ensure they are kept up with changing conditions such as inflation and living expenses.
• Awards don’t apply when a business has an enterprise agreement or other registered agreement with its employees. This access a safety net for employees as they cannot receive wages or conditions that are below the stated in the awards.

Question 3

An award specifies

Answer 3

o	Minimum wages
o	Working conditions and overtime
o	Meal breaks
o	Holidays and leave
o	Procedures for termination
o	Penalty rates and allowances
o	Superannuation

Question 4

Advantages and disadvantages of awards

Answer 4

advantages:
• Can improve transparency and equality between employees receiving award wages and conditions are the same across an industry
• Insures employees do not receive lower than the minimum wages and conditions set by the FWC
• Can be cost-effective for businesses as awards are already created by FWC, with no charge to the business, and only need to be applied

Disadvantages:
• May not be flexible to suit their specific needs of a business as wages and conditions are set by the FWC
• Employees may be less satisfied as they will only be receiving the minimum wages and conditions
• May not be flexible to the needs or situations of employees as wages and conditions are set by the FWC

Question 5

Agreements

Answer 5

An agreement is a legal document which outlines the wages and conditions of employees and is applicable to our particular business or group of businesses.
• Once a business has a agreement, therefore no longer applies because the agreement is negotiated above the award. And agreement is negotiated between the employer and the employees or the representative (e.g. union).
• Once in agreement has been agreed upon by both employer and employees, the fair work commission will look to see if it needs a series of factors before giving it a stamp of approval

Question 6

In order to gain approval of the fair work commission and agreement must meet the following criteria:

Answer 6

1. Employees to be covered must be better off overall than under the relevant award
2. No unlawful terms included
3. The agreement runs for a specified time of up to 4 years
4. A dispute settlement procedure is included

Question 7

Advantages and disadvantages of agreements

Answer 7

Advantages:
• If done well, pay increases can be linked to productivity increases
• Receive wages and conditions better than the relevant award
• They can be structured to suit the needs of the employer and employees
• Maybe flexible to certain business needs of situations
• Can attract highly skilled employees as the pay rates are higher than awards

Disadvantages:
• More time-consuming
• More expensive to implement than awards
• If there are different positions between management and employees, it may result in some form of industrial action
• Can increase in a quality in wages and conditions, meaning employees could be receiving less than employees in similar businesses with an agreement
• More costly than an award as wages and conditions are settled upon between employees and employers