Industrial and Employee Relations (General) Regulations 1994 (SA)

Case

South Australia

Industrial and Employee Relations (General) Regulations 1994

under the Fair Work Act 1994

Contents

Part 1—Preliminary

  1. Short title

  2. Interpretation

  3. Declared employer for public employees

  4. Employment excluded from Act

Part 2—Enterprise agreements

  1. Notice to be given by association

  2. Notice to be given by employer

  3. Requirements for signing an enterprise agreement

Part 3—Miscellaneous

  1. Unfair dismissal

  2. Awards relating to disabled workers

  3. Continuous service

Schedule 1—Notice by employer

Schedule 2—Recognised organisations

Legislative history

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

These regulations may be cited as the Industrial and Employee Relations (General) Regulations 1994.

3—Interpretation

In these regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—

Act means the Fair Work Act 1994.

4—Declared employer for public employees

The following are declared to be employers of public employees for the purposes of paragraph (a) of the definition of employer in section 4(1) of the Act:

(a)in respect of employees of the Bank of South Australia Limited—that body;

(b)in respect of employees of the Country Fire Service—that body;

(c)in respect of employees of an electricity corporation within the meaning of the Electricity Corporations Act 1994—that body;

(ca)in respect of employees of a State-owned company within the meaning of the Electricity Corporations (Restructuring and Disposal) Act 1999 that holds a licence under the Electricity Act 1996—that company;

(d)in respect of employees of the Lotteries Commission of South Australia—that body;

(e)in respect of employees of the South Australian Asset Management Corporation—that body;

(f)in respect of employees of the South Australian Housing Trust—that body;

(g)in respect of employees of the South Australian Meat Corporation—that body;

(h)in respect of employees of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service—that body;

(i)in respect of employees of the South Australian Totalizator Agency Board—that body;

(j)in respect of employees of TransAdelaide—that body;

(k)in respect of other public employees—the person for the time being holding or acting in the position of Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

5—Employment excluded from Act

  1. Pursuant to section 6(b) of the Act, employment which consists of part-time or casual employment performed in or about a private residence is excluded from the ambit of the Act provided that the work is wholly or mainly performed for a domestic purpose.

  2. In this regulation work is performed for a domestic purpose if it is not performed for the purpose of the employer's trade or business.

Part 2—Enterprise agreements

6—Notice to be given by association

  1. Pursuant to section 75(2)(b) of the Act, an association which proposes to enter into an enterprise agreement on behalf of a group of employees must give notice of that proposal to the group of employees in accordance with this regulation.

  2. An association acting under subregulation (1) must take reasonable steps to ensure—

    (a)that a written notice is given to each employee currently constituting the group proposed to be bound by the enterprise agreement; and

    (b)where practicable, that a written notice is displayed at the employees' workplace.

  3. A notice prepared under this regulation—

    (a)must be expressed in plain English; and

    (b)must state the full name of the association; and

    (c)must provide the name and the phone number of an officer of the association who can be contacted for further information in relation to the proposed enterprise agreement; and

    (d)must identify the group of employees who would or might be bound by the proposed enterprise agreement with enough particularity to enable an employee to determine whether or not they are or might be in the group; and

    (e)must contain a statement advising employees in the group—

    (i)that if the association is authorised by a majority of the employees constituting the group to negotiate on their behalf, the association may enter into an enterprise agreement under the Act which would bind all members of the group; and

    (ii)that any employee within the group who is a member of the association will be taken to have given an authorisation for the purposes of the Act unless the employee, by written notice to the association, withdraws the authorisation; and

    (f)must provide details of the means by which an employee within the group who is not a member of the association may give an authorisation to the association for the purposes of the Act; and

    (g)must be signed by or on behalf of the association.

  4. The association should, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure that a notice displayed in a workplace under this regulation is in such languages as are appropriate for a significant number of the employees to whom the notice is addressed.

  5. If an employee reasonably requests that a notice given to the employee under this regulation be supplied in a language other than English, the association must take reasonable steps to provide the employee with a copy of the notice in the language requested.

7—Notice to be given by employer

  1. Pursuant to section 76(1) of the Act, an employer must give notice in accordance with this regulation that negotiations for an enterprise agreement are about to begin.1

  2. The employer must take reasonable steps to ensure—

    (a)that a written notice is given to each employee currently constituting the group proposed to be bound by the enterprise agreement; and

    (b)where practicable, that a written notice is displayed at the employees' workplace.

  3. A notice prepared under this regulation—

    (a)must be expressed in plain English; and

    (b)must include a statement that the employer proposes to begin negotiations on the terms of an enterprise agreement and propose a date and place for the commencement of those negotiations; and

    (c)must identify the group of employees who would or might be bound by the proposed enterprise agreement with enough particularity to enable an employee to determine whether or not they are or might be in the group; and

    (d)may outline the employer's proposed procedure for negotiations on the terms of the enterprise agreement, including the anticipated time frame for the negotiations and any proposed consultative arrangements; and

    (e)may outline matters that the employer proposes to be subject to negotiations for an agreement; and

    (f)must be signed by or on behalf of the employer.

  4. Subject to subregulations (5) and (6), a notice under subregulation (3) may take the form of the notice set out in Schedule 1 of these regulations.

  5. The employer should, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure that a notice displayed in a workplace under this regulation is in such languages as are appropriate for a significant number of the employees to whom the notice is addressed.

  6. If an employee reasonably requests that a notice given to the employee under this regulation be supplied in a language other than English, the employer must take reasonable steps to provide the employee with a copy of the notice in the language requested.

  7. Two or more employers who may be involved in negotiations on the terms of the same enterprise agreement may, if they think fit, give a notice under this regulation jointly.

Note—

1Under section 76(1) of the Act notice is not required if the agreement is negotiated to settle an industrial dispute, or the Commission determines that there is good reason in the circumstances of the case to exempt the employer from this requirement.

8—Requirements for signing an enterprise agreement

  1. Pursuant to section 77(1)(g) of the Act, an enterprise agreement must be signed—

    (a)on behalf of an employer, by—

    (i)the employer; or

    (ii)a person duly authorised by the employer to sign on the employer's behalf;

    (b)on behalf of the employees, by—

    (i)those employees currently constituting the group proposed to be bound by the enterprise agreement and who approve of the agreement; or

    (ii)an authorised officer of an association which has been authorised to enter into the agreement on behalf of the employees under section 75(2) of the Act; or

    (iii)a person duly authorised by those employees currently constituting the group proposed to be bound by the enterprise agreement, and who approve of the agreement, to sign the agreement on their behalf.

  2. If an enterprise agreement contains a provision authorised under section 77(1)(d) of the Act, the agreement must also be signed by an authorised officer of the association of employees that has been given the right to represent the industrial interests of the employees to the exclusion of another association of employees.

Part 3—Miscellaneous

10—Unfair dismissal

Pursuant to section 105A(2)(b) of the Act, the following classes of employees are excluded from the ambit of Part 6 of Chapter 3 of the Act:

(b)employees serving a period of probation or a qualifying period of employment, provided that the duration of the period or the maximum duration of the period—

(i)is determined in advance; and

(ii)is reasonable, having regard to the nature and circumstances of the employment;

(c)casual employees, except where—

(i)the employee has been engaged by the employer on a regular and systematic basis for a sequence of periods of employment during a period of at least six months; and

(ii)the employee has, or would have had, a reasonable expectation of continuing employment by the employer;

(d)employees whose conditions of employment are governed by an award, enterprise agreement or contract of employment that makes specific arrangements concerning unfair dismissal that, when considered as a whole, provide protection that is at least equivalent to the protection afforded to employees under Part 6 of Chapter 3 of the Act.

11—Awards relating to disabled workers

  1. Pursuant to section 113(1)(c) of the Act, the bodies or organisations listed in Schedule 2 are declared to be recognised organisations for the purposes of section 113 of the Act.

  2. Pursuant to section 113(3) of the Act, an award under section 90 of the Act cannot regulate the wages or salary payable to a person to whom section 113 of the Act applies.

  3. For the purposes of subregulation (2), wages or salary do not include—

    (a)amounts payable by way of penalty rates or shift premiums; or

    (b)amounts payable for overtime; or

    (c)allowances.

12—Continuous service

  1. Pursuant to section 1(3) of Schedule 8 of the Act, in ascertaining whether an employee's period of service is continuous the following events or matters are to be disregarded:

    (a)a—

    (i)suspension, stand down or other interruption; or

    (ii)termination,

    by the employer of the employee's employment for the purpose of avoiding the employer's obligations under section 1 of Schedule 8 of the Act;

    (b)an absence from work by the employee on authorised leave;

    (c)subject to subregulation (2), an absence from work by the employee due to—

    (i)the employee's illness; or

    (ii)an accident to the employee;

    (d)subject to subregulation (3), an absence from work by the employee, if there was reasonable cause for the absence;

    (e)subject to subregulation (4), an absence from work by the employee due to concerted or collective industrial action;

    (f)any other absence from work, unless notice is given under subregulation (5) in relation to that absence.

  2. Subregulation (1)(c) does not apply to an absence from work unless—

    (a)if the employee is required by the terms of an award or order of a court or tribunal that has power to fix wages and other terms and conditions of employment, or an agreement certified or approved by such a body, to—

    (i)notify the employer of an absence from work; and

    (ii)substantiate the reason for that absence,

    the employee complies with those terms; or

    (b)in any other case—the employee informs the employer within 24 hours after the commencement of the absence, or within such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances, as to—

    (i)the employee's absence and inability to attend work; and

    (ii)whether the absence is due to illness or accident; and

    (iii)the likely duration of the absence.

  3. Subregulation (1)(d) does not apply to an absence from work unless—

    (a)if the employee is required by the terms of an award or order of a court or tribunal that has power to fix wages and other terms and conditions of employment, or an agreement certified or approved by such a body, to—

    (i)notify the employer of an absence from work; and

    (ii)substantiate the reason for that absence,

    the employee complies with those terms; or

    (b)in any other case—the employee informs the employer within 24 hours after the commencement of the absence, or within such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances, of—

    (i)the employee's absence and inability to attend work; and

    (ii)the reason for the absence; and

    (iii)the likely duration of the absence.

  4. Subregulation (1)(e) does not apply to an absence from work if the Commission has determined that, for the purpose of determining the employee's entitlement to notice of termination of the employee's employment or to compensation instead of notice, the absence is to be taken as breaking the employee's continuity of service.

  5. For the purposes of subregulation (1)(f), the employer may give to the employee notice in writing in accordance with subregulation (6) that the absence from work is to be taken as breaking the employee's continuity of service with the employer.

  6. A notice under subregulation (5) (if any) must be given—

    (a)by delivering it to the employee personally or posting it to the employee's last known address; and

    (b)during, or within 14 days after the end of, the period of absence.

  7. A notice given by an employer under subregulation (5)—

    (a)may be withdrawn by the employer; and

    (b)if withdrawn, is taken not to have been given.

Schedule 1—Notice by employer

(Regulation 7)

Schedule 2—Recognised organisations

Organisation or body

Principal location

Autism Association of South Australia Incorporated

3 Fisher Street

MYRTLE BANK SA 5064

Barkuma Incorporated (except for that part known as Personnel Employment (SA) a Division of Barkuma Incorporated)

188 Fullarton Road

DULWICH SA 5065

Barossa Enterprises Incorporated

55 Basedow Road

TANUNDA SA 5352

Bedford Industries Rehabilitation Association Incorporated

615 Goodwood Road

PANORAMA SA 5041

Bordertown Handy Help

63 Farquhar Street

BORDERTOWN SA 5268

Community Vocational Support

409 Marion Road

PLYMPTON SA 5038

Endeavour Supported Abilities (Adelaide Central Mission)

469 Torrens Road

KILKENNY SA 5009

Excel Enterprises Incorporated

45 Cudmore Terrace

WHYALLA SA 5600

Fleurieu Work Scheme Incorporated

77 Hill Street

PORT ELLIOT SA 5212

Gambier Contracts Incorporated

37 Helen Street

MT. GAMBIER SA 5290

Heritage Industries Incorporated

Jubilee Highway East

MT. GAMBIER SA 5290

Invicta Services Ltd.

56 Beulah Road

NORWOOD SA 5067

LEPSH Incorporated

22 Edinburgh Street

PT. LINCOLN SA 5606

Melaleuca Centre Incorporated

Princess Highway

MENINGIE SA 5264

Millicent Work Option Centre Incorporated

30 Davenport Street

MILLICENT SA 5280

Minda Incorporated

King George Avenue

BRIGHTON SA 5048

Muscular Dystrophy Association of S.A. Incorporated

251 Morphett Street

ADELAIDE SA 5000

Ngeringa Association Incorporated

Williams Road

MT. BARKER SA 5251

Orana Incorporated

770 South Road

GLANDORE SA 5037

Phoenix Society Incorporated

18 Ashwin Parade

TORRENSVILLE SA 5031

Pride Industries Incorporated

Grand Junction Road

GILLES PLAINS SA 5086

Product Action Incorporated

64 O.G. Road

KLEMZIG SA 5087

Royal Society for the Blind of South Australia Incorporated

Blacks Road

GILLES PLAINS SA 5086

SA Group Enterprises Incorporated

4 Iris Street

MELROSE PARK SA 5039

Strathmont Centre

Grand Junction Road

GILLES PLAINS SA 5086

Tatiara Treats

63 Farquhar Street

BORDERTOWN SA 5268

Wirrawee Incorporated

46 Taylor Street

KADINA SA 5554

Legislative history

Notes

•Please note—References in the legislation to other legislation or instruments or to titles of bodies or offices are not automatically updated as part of the program for the revision and publication of legislation and therefore may be obsolete.

•Earlier versions of these regulations (historical versions) are listed at the end of the legislative history.

•For further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or of regulations

The Industrial and Employee Relations (General) Regulations 1994 were revoked by Sch 3 of the Fair Work (General) Regulations 2009 on 1.9.2009.

Principal regulations and variations

Year No Reference Commencement
1994 132 Gazette 4.8.1994 p380 8.8.1994: r 2
1995 158 Gazette 13.7.1995 p99 17.7.1995: r 2
1995 171 Gazette 24.8.1995 p525 31.8.1995: r 2
1997 138 Gazette 29.5.1997 p2764 29.5.1997: r 2—disallowed on 23.7.1997 (Gazette 31.7.1997 p237)
1997 199 Gazette 4.9.1997 p642 4.9.1997: r 2—disallowed on 11.12.1997 (Gazette 18.12.1997 p1646)
1997 215 Gazette 23.10.1997 p1089 23.10.1997: r 2
1999 161 Gazette 29.7.1999 p633 29.7.1999: r 2
2004 29 Gazette 13.5.2004 p1273 13.5.2004: r 2
2005 29 Gazette 28.4.2005 p1096 16.5.2005: r 2
2006 230 Gazette 28.9.2006 p3626 1.10.2006: r 2

Provisions varied

Entries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.

Provision How varied Commencement
Pt 1
r 2 omitted under the Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002 13.5.2004
r 3
the Act deleted by 29/2005 r 4 16.5.2005
Act inserted by 29/2005 r 4 16.5.2005
r 4 substituted by 158/1995 r 3 17.7.1995
varied by 215/1997 r 3 23.10.1997
varied by 161/1999 r 3 29.7.1999
varied by 29/2004 r 4 13.5.2004
varied by 230/2006 r 4 1.10.2006
Pt 2
r 6
r 6(1) varied by 171/1995 r 3(a) 31.8.1995
varied by 29/2005 r 5(1) 16.5.2005
r 6(2) varied by 29/2005 r 5(2) 16.5.2005
r 6(3) varied by 171/1995 r 3(b) 31.8.1995
r 7
r 7(7) inserted by 29/2005 r 6 16.5.2005
r 9 deleted by 171/1995 r 4 31.8.1995
Pt 3
r 10 inserted by 138/1997 r 3 29.5.1997—disallowed 23.7.1997
inserted by 199/1997 r 3 4.9.1997—disallowed 11.12.1997
varied by 29/2005 r 7(1) 16.5.2005
(a) deleted by 29/2005 r 7(2) 16.5.2005
Sch 1 varied by 29/2005 r 8 16.5.2005

Historical versions

Reprint No 1—17.7.1995
Reprint No 2—31.8.1995
Reprint No 3—29.5.1997
Reprint No 4—31.7.1997
Reprint No 5—4.9.1997
Reprint No 6—23.10.1997
Reprint No 7—18.12.1997
Reprint No 8—29.7.1999
13.5.2004
16.5.2005
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