Murrumbidgee
Irrigation Consent Award 2004
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Application by Public
Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of
New South Wales, Industrial Organisation of Employees.
(No. IRC 1286 of 2006)
Before The Honourable
Justice Schmidt
|
21 March 2006
|
VARIATION
1. Insert in
numerical order in the Arrangement of the award published 12 November 2004 (347
IG 218), the following clause number and subject matter:
23. Secure
Employment
2. Insert after
clause 22, Union Membership Dues and Deduction, the following new clause:
23. Secure Employment
(a) Objective of
this Clause
The objective of this clause is for the Company to take
all reasonable steps to provide its employees with secure employment by
maximising the number of permanent positions in the Company'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 the Company 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 sub-clause.
(ii) The Company shall
give such casual 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 sub-clause if the Company 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 Company 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 Company shall consent to or refuse the election, but shall not
unreasonably so refuse. Where the Company 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
Company, 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 Company.
(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
Company 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 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
Company 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 sub-clause.
(c) Occupational
Health and Safety
(i) For the
purposes of this sub-clause, 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) If the
Company intends to engage a labour hire business and/or a contract business to
perform work wholly or partially on the Company'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 sub-clause (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 from the 1st March 2006.
M. SCHMIDT J.
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.