HSA February 2021

Industry (General) Award 2020 and the Restaurant Industry Award
2020. The new provisions allow employers and employees to
work together and agree for employees who already work at least
16 hours per week to work additional hours and be paid at their
ordinary rates.
This change will provide benefits for both employers and
employees, by:
• stimulating employment in recovering businesses;
• additional hours of work for employees who want it; and
• place permanent employment (with paid leave entitlements)
on a more competitive footing with other traditionally more
flexible forms of employment.
CREATION AND APPROVAL OF ENTERPRISE
AGREEMENTS
This Bill aims to make the enterprise agreement making and
approval processes easier and faster.
The Bill will reduce the level of prescription currently imposed
by the Act and provide greater flexibility of how employees are
provided with a fair and reasonable opportunity to consider an
agreement prior to casting a vote.
As part of the approval process, the Fair Work Commission
(‘FWC’) would be required to listen to the views of the bargaining
representatives, and intervention by other persons/parties would
be limited.
The Bill proposes all enterprise agreements include a mandatory
term which explains the interaction between the National
Employment Standards (‘NES’) and the particular agreement.
This will expedite the approval process as the FWC will no
longer be required to satisfy itself the terms of an agreement
exclude NES protections. The FWC would be required to approve
agreements, as far as practicable, within 21 working days.
The Bill clarifies that the FWC is required to consider the
following when applying the better off overall test (BOOT) (the
process of assessing the agreement against the applicable
modern award):
• only the patterns, kinds of work or types of employment
employees are currently engaged in and is reasonably
foreseeable for employees to be engaged in;
• the overall benefits (including non-monetary benefits)
employees would receive under the agreement compared to a
relevant modern award; and
• any views expressed by employers, employees and their
bargaining representatives regarding whether the agreement
passes the BOOT.
Additionally, in limited circumstances, the Bill proposes to permit
the FWC to approve an agreement which may not pass the BOOT
after taking into account the views and circumstances of the:
• employees;
• employer(s);
• employee organisation/s covered by the agreement,
• impact of COVID-19 on the enterprise;
• extent of employee support for the agreement; and
• whether agreement approval is in the public interest.
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