Industrial News 2007

July 2007

Making informed decisions

It is important for nurses to know their industrial rights so they can make informed decisions in the workplace and to know where the major political parties stand on those rights.

There may be enterprise bargaining negotiations going on in a workplace and nurses will sometimes be asked to vote on proposed collective agreements. It is important to know what is being discussed, and what is contained in any proposed agreement as this will determine the terms and conditions of employment for up to the next five years.

The agreement will outline minimum pay rates and entitlements to different types of leave including annual leave, sick leave, carer’s leave, compassionate leave and long service leave. The agreement will also deal with other entitlements such as penalty rates for working on weekends and public holidays, and working shifts.

An agreement will usually set out rules that impact on the ability to balance your work and family/leisure time. These rules specify entitlements in relation to changes in rosters and requests by an employer for an employee to work overtime, certain shifts or on public holidays. They describe the circumstances for rejecting such requests, and in what circumstances an employee can ask for time off or for flexible working hours.

In addition, sometimes nurses may be asked to sign an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA), especially when applying for a new job or to secure a promotion. Nurses are not obliged to accept an AWA and should be aware of the conditions that could be lost by signing one.

The dangers of not knowing your rights are amply demonstrated by a non-union collective agreement made in the Northern Territory recently. This agreement stripped away many existing entitlements including annual leave loading, penalty rates for working on weekends and on evening and night shifts, various allowances, rights to severance pay on retrenchment and higher rates for working overtime hours.

Worst of all, the agreement did not provide any compensation to employees for giving up these conditions, and did so legally (as a result of the federal Government’s WorkChoices laws). The employees did not even receive a pay rise for entering into the agreement and the agreement did not provide for any pay increase during the life of the agreement (over three years).

It is important to know about industrial rights in other situations as well.

If changes are proposed to the structure of a business there will usually be rules outlining employee rights and the obligations of the employer.

For example, if there is a proposal to make a position redundant, an employee may be entitled to be consulted before any decision is made, to be offered alternative employment, and to be paid severance pay if retrenched.

If there is a change in ownership of the business, an employee may have an entitlement to be informed of what will occur in relation to their employment and for the new employer to recognise entitlements accrued with the previous owner, such as leave.

Occupational health and safety is an important issue in workplaces, and includes issues relating to workload and bullying and harassment. Employers have an obligation to provide a healthy and safe workplace, and to respond to concerns appropriately.

It is also important for nurses to know their industrial rights to effectively determine what impact the policies of political parties will have on those rights. The federal government’s WorkChoices laws allows unfair agreements to be made that would not have been possible prior to the introduction of those laws. The government’s new ’Fairness Test’ fails to restore the rights that employees had prior to WorkChoices.

Under this test, there is no entitlement to compensation for losing rights to redundancy, paid maternity leave, control over rosters, etc. There are several exceptions to the test that mean, for example, if someone who works in a rural area with high unemployment, it may be legal to reduce their entitlements. Further, an employee could legally be asked to give up penalty rates in exchange for family-friendly working hours.

In all these situations, it is important for nurses to know where they stand in order to make informed decisions. Local ANF delegates/organisers and health and safety representatives can provide information about nurses rights at work. It is also important to have a copy of the relevant award/agreement or have ready access to one. These are often available on state ANF branch websites and can also be obtained from the ANF Federal Office.

Nick Blake
ANF Federal Industrial Officer