Home
>
Small Business
>
Australian Workplace Agreements - How They Work For You

Australian Workplace Agreements - How They Work For You

The employer / employee relations environment has been constantly evolving during the last 25 years. In Australia, as in many western nations, the balance between employers and employees has shifted back and forwards usually in response to supply and demand.

At times worker organisations, such as unions, have caused considerable problems for employers while arguing that unionism protects workers pay and conditions.

While this has been true in some arenas it has also been true that this has come at the expense of enterprise flexibility.

Small business today needs the flexibility to rapidly respond to technological and sociological change and the old award system and its archaic inflexibility have to change.

In the late 80's and 90's there was a shift towards enterprise bargaining agreements and collective agreements which gave an individual enterprise increasing workplace flexibility.

These agreements, at the enterprise level, where parties were normally unions on behalf of workers and small business went some ways in achieving of flexibility but still retained some of the old thinking and inflexible practices. In essence the old award system continued to be a reference point for minimum wages and entitlements for workers.

In 1996 the federal government introduced Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA) which was specifically designed with individual business and worker in mind.

At its fundamental level an AWA is a formal written agreement between an employer and an individual employee. A significant advantage to workers and business is that an AWA can be tailored to cover all particular requirements for your business.

AWAs have a life of 3 years, however if they are carefully written can continue long after the 3 year expiry date.

By way of example you may own a farm where seasonal workers are required. Your AWA can be designed to reflect seasonal requirements that suite both worker and employer.

You employees may want a 4 day working week. Your AWA can tailor this requirement into the agreement and without payment of penalty rates for working in excess of 8 hours per day.

Take Australian Zoo owned by Steve and Terri Irwin. Because of their unique requirements in caring for animals AWA's have provided flexible working times. With a workforce of 450 people they have been able to grow their business in the certainty of wages and conditions.

Other advantages of an AWA may be that an employee is able to cash out sick leave at the end of every year reducing the amount of sick leave taken and providing an added incentive for turning up for work each day. It all adds up to flexibility.

An AWA can override state and federal award provisions, as long as the terms and conditions of the AWA overall do not disadvantage the employee when compared to the award. This gives the employer and employee certainty of conditions in the employment relationship. A business without a written formal agreement between worker and the employer is at risk to claim before industrial tribunals and courts.

Certainly documenting and agreeing on individual workplace wages and conditions means certainty of cost and the ability to be competitive.

Cash, Costs and People are the number one ticket item in many businesses today. For helpful information visit us at www.biz-momentum.com

Philip Lye is the founder of Biz Momentum Pty Ltd providing strategic human resource management to help your business grow.

Prior to starting Biz Momentum Philip was CEO and CFO of two companies. http://www.biz-momentum.com

best cleaning company Lincolnshire ..

In The News:

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Australian Workplace Agreements - How They Work For You

Small Business