COLD STORAGE AND ICE EMPLOYEES (NORTHUMBERLAND) AWARD

 

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES

FULL BENCH

 

Application by The Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union, Newcastle and Northern Branch, industrial organisation of employees.

 

(No. IRC 33 of 2003)

 

 

VARIATION

 

1.          Insert in the Arrangement of the award published 20 July 2001 (326 I.G. 216), the following new clause number and subject matter.

 

3A.      Leisure Time Credits

 

2.          Delete subclause (ii) and (iii) of clause 2 Definitions, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

(ii)        Casual employee means an employee who is engaged and paid by the hour. The hourly rate of pay for a casual employee shall be calculated by dividing by thirty eight the weekly rate of pay which applies to the classification level in which he or she is employed, and then adding a loading of 12.5 per cent.  A casual employee shall be paid a minimum of four hours pay for each occasion that he or she is called into work.

 

(For example, following the 2001 State Wage Increase and based on the introduction of a 38-hour week, a casual employee at Level 5 would be paid $12.41 per hour.  If this worker is called into work on a Wednesday and works three hours he/she will be paid for four hours work i.e. $49.67.)

 

(iii)       A Permanent Part-time Employee means a weekly employee who is employed to work less than 38 ordinary hours each week.  A permanent part time employee shall work and shall be paid for not less than 18 ordinary hours each week, and shall be employed to work on not less than three days per week.  A part-time employee shall receive all the benefits of the award in the ratio of his or her ordinary hours, as fixed, as they bear to 38 hours.

 

The ordinary hourly rate of pay shall be calculated by dividing by 38 the weekly rate of pay, which applies to the classification level in which the permanent part time employee is employed. 

 

The ordinary hours of work for a part-time employee shall be set according to a roster. Any time which is worked outside the roster will be paid as overtime as per clause 7, overtime. The rostered times of work may be varied either by the employer giving 7 days notice to the employee, or by the mutual agreement between the employee and his or her employer.

 

3.          Delete clause 3, Hours and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

3.  Hours

 

(i)         Permanent employees will not work more than 38 ordinary hours per week.  These hours may be worked as suits the needs of the employer’s business and by agreement between the employer and employees, Monday to Friday between the hours of 6am and 6pm in shifts of up to ten hours per day.

(ii)        Full time and part time employees will not work more than 5 days per week or, by agreement between the employer and employee, not more than 10 days in a two-week period.

 

(iii)       The employer shall display a roster in a place accessible to all employees.  The roster shall set out the starting, finishing and meal times for full time and part time employees for each week. The roster shall be posted at least seven days before its commencement in a prominent place.

 

(iv)       An employer cannot change the roster of a full time or part time employee without giving the employee 7 days notice except in an emergency beyond the employer’s control.  The employer will discuss any change with the employee and will take into account the employee’s family and personal needs.

 

(v)        Shift Workers:

 

(a)        A night shift may be worked provided that the ordinary hours shall not exceed thirty-eight per week, inclusive of crib time. Such shifts shall be worked each night, Monday to Sunday between the hours of 5.00 pm and 7.00 am.

 

(b)        An employee engaged on night shift shall be paid at the rate of time and one-quarter of the wages prescribed in Table 1 - Wage Rates, of Part B, Monetary Rates.

 

(vi)       Morning and afternoon shifts may be worked subject to the following conditions:

 

(a)        The ordinary hours shall be worked in shifts of up to ten hours inclusive of crib time, Monday to Sunday inclusive.

 

(b)        A crib time of twenty minutes, which shall be counted as time worked, shall be allowed to shift workers on each shift; provided that where a shift exceeding eight hours is worked, a second crib break to be counted as time worked shall be allowed.

 

(c)        The employer shall give the union not less than seven days notice, or lesser period of notice by mutual agreement in the case of emergencies, of the intention to alter work shifts and of the times between which such shifts shall be worked; provided that shifts shall commence before 6am and shall not finish later than 12pm.

 

(d)        Employees whilst working on afternoon shift shall be paid the amount as set out in Item 1 of Table 2 - Other rates and Allowances, of Part B, Monetary Rates, in addition to their normal wages.

 

(e)        Afternoon shift shall mean any shift finishing after 6pm and starting at of before 12pm.

 

4.          Insert after clause 3, Hours, a new clause.

 

3A.  Leisure Time Credits

 

(i)         For each 40 ordinary hours worked in a week by an employee, the employer will credit an employee with a leisure time credit of two hours. 

 

(ii)        At the end of each week, an employee may elect to be paid in lieu of leisure time credits (at overtime rates) and shall be paid for those accumulated leisure time credits in accordance with the overtime clause. If the employee elects to be paid for their leisure time credits in this fashion, the employer has no further obligations towards those leisure time credits.

 

(iii)       Leisure time credits will accumulate and will be given by the employer as follows:

 

(a)        up to five days per annum may be taken by the employee as required by the employer during periods when the employer’s business is not operating to full capacity;

 

(b)        in single days within four weeks of accrual or in blocks of days as required by an employee or as additional days to be added to a period of annual leave.

 

(iv)       Reasonable notice (being five days or, by agreement, a lesser period) shall be given by an employer for the taking of days off for this purpose.

 

(v)        Any time taken off pursuant to this clause will be paid at ordinary time rates.

 

(vi)       If an employee becomes sick on an accumulated leisure day, no sick leave deductions will be made.  The employee shall be paid for the accumulated leisure day.

 

(vii)      All accumulated leisure days will be paid out on the termination of an employee’s employment.

 

(viii)     Payment for a public holiday which falls on an accumulated leisure day will be for the ordinary hours the employee would have received had he or she been at work on that day.  The accumulated leisure day may be rescheduled by agreement between the employer and the employee.

 

5.          Delete subclause (ii) of Clause 6, Wages, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

(ii)        The rates of pay in this award include the adjustments payable under the State Wage Case 2002.  These adjustments may be offset against:

 

(a)        any equivalent overaward payments and/or

 

(b)        award wage increases since 29 May 1991 other than safety net, State Wages Case, and minimum rates adjustments.

 

6.          Delete subclause (i) of Clause 7, Overtime and insert in lieu the following:

 

(i)         All time worked outside the ordinary rostered hours will be paid at time and a half for the first two hours and double time thereafter.

 

7.          Delete subclause (i) of Clause 23 - Payment of Wages, and insert in lieu the following:

 

(i)         Wages are to be paid weekly on the same day each week.  At least 4 weeks notice shall be given to the employees if the day for payment is to be changed.

 

8.          Delete Part B - Monetary Rates and insert in lieu the following:

 

PART B

 

MONETARY RATES

 

Table 1 - Wages

 

Adult Classification	$
Level 1	507.40
Level 2	494.90
Level 3	457.50
Level 4	453.70
Level 5	437.40

 

Table 2 - Other Rates and Allowances

 

Item	Clause	Brief Description	Amount
No.	No.		$
1	4(iii)(a)	Shift Allowances	3.42
		(a) Day and/or afternoon and/or night rotating or
		alternating shifts - per shift
2	4(iii)(b)	(b) Regular afternoon shift which does not rotate to
		provide the shift worker at least one-third of the employee's
		ordinary time on day shift - per shift	5.00
3	5(iii)	Meal Allowance	4.98
4	6(i)(b)	Pedestrian stacker allowance - per week	7.07
5	8(ii)	Cold temperature allowance - below 2 degrees Celsius of
		part thereof	0.11
6	8(iii)	Cold temperature allowance - below minus 10 degrees
		Celsius per hour or part thereof	0.20
7	8(v)	Cold temperature allowance - Below minus 16 degrees
		Celsius or part thereof	0.30
8	8(vi)(c)	Cold temperature allowance -Below minus 20 degrees
		Celsius or part thereof	0.55
9	9	First-aid allowance - per week	4.16

 

9.          Clauses 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 will operate from 1 January 2004, and clauses 5 and 8 will operate from 25 March 2004.

 

 

 

R. W. HARRISON  D.P.

J. N. REDMAN, Commissioner.

D. W. RITCHIE, Commissioner.

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

Printed by the authority of the Industrial Registrar.