Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AMENDMENT BILL 2011
Thursday, 2 June 2011 COUNCIL 1717
operating around regional Victoria that may have some
impact or may not. The bottom line is that there are still
11 public holidays, so the entitlements for those
holidays remain.
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — I do
not take issue with the minister’s last point. I refer to
the earlier part of his answer, where he said the issue
was not raised with him through correspondence from
municipalities. It was raised with the Minister for
Innovation, Services and Small Business by the Shop,
Distributive and Allied Employees Association in a
letter that says:
Many enterprise agreements anticipate that outside
metropolitan Melbourne another day may be taken as a public
holiday in lieu of Melbourne Cup Day. However, they
normally assume it is a single day. If the government’s
amendment goes through, there will be confusion and
uncertainty as to whether by virtue of the enterprise
agreement and with operation of the national employment
standards employees are entitled to two half-days, one full
day or one full day plus one half-day. (It may be possible
under some enterprise agreements that employees may be
entitled to two full days.)
This confusion and uncertainty existed in the past. We had
disputes with employers over whether the act or the enterprise
agreement provision took precedence until the ALP tidied it
all up by providing very clear options in the act.
The minister might not agree with that last point. I am
genuinely concerned about how this will be
implemented and how it will affect ordinary people.
How will they be able to ensure either that they get their
entitlement to a half-day off or they get the half-day’s
pay at public holiday rates?
Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for
Employment and Industrial Relations) — The advice I
have is that it was not an issue raised by any of the
regional correspondence in letters or emails generated
in response to this matter prior to 2008. As I indicated
earlier, employees’ entitlements in regard to work on
full-day or half-day holidays in lieu of Melbourne Cup
Day are determined by the commonwealth’s Fair Work
laws and the employment contract agreement or award
that applies to the employee. I think we need to
understand that.
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — I am
not happy with the minister telling me that because this
issue has not been raised in correspondence with
regional people he should not be required to give me an
answer. I am raising the issue. It was raised in
correspondence with the minister, and it is an important
issue. I am raising the question of how this is going to
be implemented, and I have every right to raise that.
Whether or not it has been raised in correspondence is
probably not pertinent at all. I put forward the
hypothetical example, which is actually not
hypothetical, of a health service worker, a nurse, who is
required to work on the day of the Traralgon show and
is rostered on for a 7.00 to 3.00 or a 7.00 to 4.00 shift
when a half-day public holiday has been declared for
that day. What penalty rates will that nurse be paid for
that public holiday? Under what instrument is that
going to be made available?
Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for
Employment and Industrial Relations) — As I have
indicated, the payment for work performed on a public
holiday is determined by any applicable employment
contracts, awards or agreements. Ms Pennicuik has
singled out one example. I proposed earlier that we
should not single out individual circumstances because
they may not be representative of all agreements in
terms of employment agreements, but I have identified
that it is important to understand that the relationship
between such agreements and the Public Holidays Act
1993 is a matter to be addressed by the parties to each
agreement within the framework of the commonwealth
laws. It would be unfair to single out one particular
agreement, but I understand where Ms Pennicuik is at,
and as I indicated earlier that would be dealt with by
both her and Mr Somyurek.
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — I do
not wish to labour this matter anymore. I think I have
made my point. It is a genuine concern of mine as to
how this is going to play out on the ground for ordinary
workers in the different parts of the state that may
declare different holidays in different locations, which
would not be reflected in their industrial instruments. I
ask the minister, as the Minister for Employment and
Industrial Relations, whether he will, over the next year
or two — at least two years I would suggest, but
probably longer — monitor the situation and assist
parties to agreements and industrial awards to make
sure that workers covered by them either get the time
off to which they are entitled without a fight or are paid
their entitlements if they have to work.
Hon. R. A. DALLA-RIVA (Minister for
Employment and Industrial Relations) — As I said
before, the advice I have, and Ms Pennicuik may not
like it, is that it is a matter of the agreements that are in
operation between the employees and the employers,
and the instrument that underpins that is the
commonwealth’s Fair Work Act 2009. It may be a
modern award, an enterprise agreement or some other
instrument. I cannot add any more to what I have said.
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — I am
loath to ask this again, but I ask the minister this simple