FrequentlyAsked Questions
Enterprise agreements [sometimes called an EBA or Enterprise Bargaining Agreement] are agreements made at an enterprise level between employers and employees and their union, about terms and conditions of employment.
They can also be made by more than one employer, with a group of employees.
Although Awards cover minimum pay and conditions for an industry, enterprise agreements can cover specific arrangements for a particular enterprise.
Normally, everything that is in an Award is also a minimum standard in an EA. EAs are never allowed to offer less than is contained in the base standards provided by the *National Employment Standards*.
Enterprise agreements can include a broad range of matters such as:
- rates of pay
- employment conditions e.g. hours of work, meal breaks, overtime
- penalty rates and allowances
- how and when employees and their representatives will be consulted
- dispute resolution procedures
- deductions from wages for any purpose authorised by an employee.
They cannot, however, include anything unlawful (such as discriminatory or objectionable terms).
Yes. When an Enterprise Agreement is in operation, the modern award that covers that employment no longer applies.
However, the pay rate in the enterprise agreement will not usually be less than the pay rate in the modern award.
No. You can no longer make new individual agreements. This is designed to protect people from being played off against one another.
Enterprise Agreements are negotiated between your union and your employer. Your union represents your interests if you’re a member.
The process of reaching an Agreement can take many weeks or months of discussion and a great deal of industrial knowledge and expertise in negotiations to work through issues of importance to each side.
To have your say in what is negotiated on your behalf, you need to become a member of your union.
Union members effectively pay for all employees to be represented in negotiations with your employer, so the more members of a workforce who are financial members, the more resources your union has to negotiate on your behalf.
Yes. The process is overseen by the Fair Work Commission. One of the key rules relates to what’s known as ‘bargaining in good faith’.
This means that basically, both sides have to play fair.
Fair Work Commission has specified bargaining in good faith principles as follows:
Participants must:
- recognise and bargain with the other bargaining representatives involved
- attend and participate in meetings at reasonable times
- disclose relevant information in a timely manner (this excludes confidential or commercially sensitive information)
- respond to proposals made by the other bargaining representatives in a timely manner
- genuinely consider the proposals of the other bargaining representatives and provide reasons for the responses
- refrain from behaving in a way that undermines freedom of association or collective bargaining.
Depends on which company you are in.
All Enterprise Agreements can be found on Fair Work Commission website. FWC Agreements
Need advice on which Agreement covers you? If you are a member of your union, the Health Services Union S/NT, you can contact the union or contact Fair Work Ombudsman at: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/
And yes, you can see your Agreement – it’s a public document.