Cold Storage
and Ice Employees (Northumberland) Award
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH
WALES
Application by The Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union,
New South Wales Branch
(No. IRC 1740 of 2006)
Before Commissioner Tabbaa
|
24 March 2006
|
VARIATION
1. Insert in numerical order in the Arrangement of the award
published 20 July 2001(326 I.G. 216) the following new clause number and
subject matter:
21A. Secure Employment
2. Insert after clause 21, Terms of Employment, the following
new clause:
21A. Secure Employment
(a) Objective of this Clause
The objective of
this clause is for the employer to take all reasonable steps to provide its employees
with secure employment by maximising the number of permanent positions in the
employer’s workforce, in particular by ensuring that casual employees have an
opportunity to elect to become full-time or part-time employees.
(b) Casual Conversion
(i) A casual employee engaged by a
particular employer on a regular and systematic basis for a sequence of periods
of employment under this Award during a calendar period of six months shall
thereafter have the right to elect to have his or her ongoing contract of
employment converted to permanent full-time employment or part-time employment
if the employment is to continue beyond the conversion process prescribed by
this subclause.
(ii) Every employer of such a casual employee
shall give the employee notice in writing of the provisions of this sub-clause
within four weeks of the employee having attained such period of six months.
However, the employee retains his or her right of election under this subclause
if the employer fails to comply with this notice requirement.
(iii) Any casual employee who has a right to
elect under paragraph (b)(i), upon receiving notice under paragraph (b)(ii) or
after the expiry of the time for giving such notice, may give four weeks’
notice in writing to the employer that he or she seeks to elect to convert his
or her ongoing contract of employment to full-time or part-time employment, and
within four weeks of receiving such notice from the employee, the employer
shall consent to or refuse the election, but shall not unreasonably so refuse.
Where an employer refuses an election to convert, the reasons for doing so
shall be fully stated and discussed with the employee concerned, and a genuine
attempt shall be made to reach agreement. Any dispute about a refusal of an
election to convert an ongoing contract of employment shall be dealt with as
far as practicable and with expedition through the disputes settlement
procedure.
(iv) Any casual employee who does not, within
four weeks of receiving written notice from the employer, elect to convert his
or her ongoing contract of employment to full-time employment or part-time
employment will be deemed to have elected against any such conversion.
(v) Once a casual employee has elected to
become and been converted to a full-time employee or a part-time employee, the
employee may only revert to casual employment by written agreement with the
employer.
(vi) If a casual employee has elected to have
his or her contract of employment converted to full-time or part-time
employment in accordance with paragraph (b)(iii), the employer and employee
shall, in accordance with this paragraph, and subject to paragraph (b)(iii),
discuss and agree upon:
(1) whether the employee will convert to
full-time or part-time employment; and
(2) if it is agreed that the employee will
become a part-time employee, the number of hours and the pattern of hours that
will be worked either consistent with any other part-time employment provisions
of this award or pursuant to a part time work agreement made under Chapter 2,
Part 5 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW);
Provided that an
employee who has worked on a full-time basis throughout the period of casual
employment has the right to elect to convert his or her contract of employment
to full-time employment and an employee who has worked on a part-time basis
during the period of casual employment has the right to elect to convert his or
her contract of employment to part-time employment, on the basis of the same
number of hours and times of work as previously worked, unless other
arrangements are agreed between the employer and the employee.
(vii) Following an agreement being reached
pursuant to paragraph (vi), the employee shall convert to full-time or part-time
employment. If there is any dispute about the arrangements to apply to an
employee converting from casual employment to full-time or part-time
employment, it shall be dealt with as far as practicable and with expedition
through the disputes settlement procedure.
(viii) An employee must not be engaged and
re-engaged, dismissed or replaced in order to avoid any obligation under this
subclause.
(c) Occupational Health and Safety
(i) For the purposes of this subclause, the
following definitions shall apply:
(1) A "labour hire business" is a
business (whether an organisation, business enterprise, company, partnership,
co-operative, sole trader, family trust or unit trust, corporation and/or
person) which has as its business function, or one of its business functions,
to supply staff employed or engaged by it to another employer for the purpose
of such staff performing work or services for that other employer.
(2) A "contract business" is a
business (whether an organisation, business enterprise, company, partnership,
co-operative, sole trader, family trust or unit trust, corporation and/or
person) which is contracted by another employer to provide a specified service
or services or to produce a specific outcome or result for that other employer
which might otherwise have been carried out by that other employer’s own
employees.
(ii) Any employer which engages a labour hire
business and/or a contract business to perform work wholly or partially on the
employer’s premises shall do the following (either directly, or through the
agency of the labour hire or contract business):
(1) consult with employees of the labour
hire business and/or contract business
regarding the workplace occupational health and safety consultative
arrangements;
(2) provide employees of the labour hire
business and/or contract business with appropriate occupational health and
safety induction training including the appropriate training required for such
employees to perform their jobs safely;
(3) provide employees of the labour hire
business and/or contract business with appropriate personal protective
equipment and/or clothing and all safe work method statements that they would
otherwise supply to their own employees; and
(4) ensure employees of the labour hire
business and/or contract business are made aware of any risks identified in the
workplace and the procedures to control those risks.
(iii) Nothing in this subclause (c) is intended
to affect or detract from any obligation or responsibility upon a labour hire
business arising under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 or
the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998.
(d) Disputes Regarding the Application of
this Clause
Where a dispute
arises as to the application or implementation of this clause, the matter shall
be dealt with pursuant to the disputes settlement procedure of this award.
(e) This clause has no application in
respect of organisations which are properly registered as Group Training
Organisations under the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Act 2001 (or
equivalent interstate legislation) and are deemed by the relevant State
Training Authority to comply with the national standards for Group Training
Organisations established by the ANTA Ministerial Council.
3. This variation shall take effect on and from the 24 March,
2006.
I.
TABBAA, Commissioner
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.