Changes to Notice Employee Representational Rights (Schedule 2.1)

Changes to Notice Employee Representational Rights

Changes to Notice Employee Representational Rights (Schedule 2.1)

Enterprise Bargaining Alert: As members would be aware, an employer must take all reasonable steps to notify employees of the right to be represented as soon as practicable, and not later than 14 days, after the notification time that enterprise bargaining has commenced.

The notice is given by providing employees with an exact copy of the Notice of employee representational rights provided in Schedule 2.1 of the Fair Work Regulations 2009. The notice cannot contain any other content.

The notice should be given to each employee who will be covered by the agreement and who is employed at the notification time. A vote cannot occur until at least 21 days after the last Notice of representational rights has been given.

Under a recent amendment to the Fair Work Regulations 2009 (the Regulations), there will be a change to the Notice of Employee Representational Rights (the Notice) which is used during bargaining for an Enterprise Agreement.

The amendment to the Regulations commences on 3 April 2017 and will affect the form and content of the Notice issued to employees. The change to the Regulations will only affect parties who issue the Notice from 3 April 2017 onwards.

It is important to note that any Notices issued to employees before 3 April 2017, must comply with the current Fair Work legislation, and there is no ability to depart from the template currently prescribed in the Fair Work Regulations.

Any Notices issued on or after 3 April 2017 must comply with the updated amendments. It is imperative that an employer draft and issue the correct version of the NERR, as errors with the Notice may affect the approval process with the Fair Work Commission.

To find out more about Enterprise Agreements, and how they could potentially work for your business, please call the Pinnacle HR Team on (08) 8232 2820 or email admin@pinnaclehr.com.au for further information.