Download The New “Common Rule Awards” How they will affect your practice

The New “Common Rule Awards” How they will affect your
practice
On 1 January 2005, the first Victorian Common Rule Awards will come into effect.
This means that many Victorian employees currently covered by Part XV and
Schedule 1A of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 will be entitled, by law, to the
terms and conditions contained in a Victorian Common Rule Award. This may
include entitlements such as penalty rates for weekend and evening work, overtime
rates and annual leave loading.
To date, the following awards that may have application in General Practice have
been declared common rule awards by the Australian Industrial Relations
Commission (AIRC):
The Nurses’ (Victorian Medical Centres And Clinics) Award 2000
Health and Allied Services – Private Sector – Victoria Consolidated Award 1998
Health Services Union of Australia (Health Professional Services – Private Sector
Victoria) Award 2004
These awards cover clerical and admin staff, practice nurses, allied health and other
staff that may be employed by practices. These awards come into operation on 1
January 2005 and it is essential that practices comply with any new Award terms and
conditions from this time. Practices should review the requirements of the new
Awards and seek advice from their ‘employment adviser’ or from the Victorian
Hospitals’ Industrial Association (VHIA) on 9861 4000.
The following information is provided as a guide only. You are advised to seek
specific advice about application to your own staff, in particular in terms of
appropriate classification within an Award.
Position
Award Coverage (Award Code)
Administration and Reception staff
Health and A
Head Receptionist/Office Manager
Health and A
Bookkeeper/Payroll
Health and Allied Services – Private Sector – Victoria
Consolidated Award 1998 (Award Code AW783872)
Cleaner or general assistant Health and Allied Services – Private Sector – Victoria
Consolidated Award 1998 (Award Code AW783872)
Practice Manager
Health and Allied Services – Private Sector – Victoria
Consolidated Award 1998 (Award Code AW783872)
Practice Nurse (Div 1)
Nurses’ (Victorian Medical Centres And Clinics) Award
2000 (Award Code AW806312)
Nurse (Div 2)i
Nurses’ (Victorian Medical Centres And Clinics) Award
2000 (Award Code AW806312)
Allied Health professional including Physiotherapist, podiatrist, speech therapists
etc.Health Services Union of Australia (Health Professional Services – Private Sector
Victoria) Award 2004 (Award Code AW835426)
GP employed (not operating as independent contractor) by practice (e.g. on
PAYG)Schedule 1A of the Workplace Relations Act 1996
If the practice has a Certified Agreement or Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA)
with staff then (to the extent of any inconsistency between the two documents) the
Certified Agreement or AWA will take precedence over the common rule awards. If
you have a common law contract with your staff then the Award sets the baseline
term and conditions of employment.
If you are unsure of the difference between a Certified Agreement, an AWA and a
common law contract, please contact your ‘employment adviser’ or Yvonne Urpis at
the VHIA ( 9861 4050)
As a brief guide:
Common law employment contracts are a ‘private’ agreement (this may take the form
of a letter) between the employee and employer. Whilst it is a private agreement it
cannot provide lesser conditions than apply to the employment by any relevant award
or other statutory provision. It should be noted that individual common law contracts
do not take precedence (except in some cases where the current contract condition
exceeds the corresponding Award condition). Individual Award conditions will prevail
over common law contracts.
A Certified Agreement (CA) is a collective agreement between an employer and a
group of employees or with a union on behalf of the employees. Under the
Workplace Relations Act 1996, the AIRC must certify such an agreement before it
comes into effect.
Australian Workplace Agreements are a written agreement between an employer and
an employee about the employee’s terms and conditions of employment and takes
the place of any federal or state award. AWAs may be negotiated with employees
collectively but must be signed individually. An AWA can override Awards and state
laws on conditions of employment such as annual leave, if it specifies this in the
AWA. The Employment Advocate, or in some circumstances the Australian Industrial
Relations Commission, approves AWAs.
Both Certified Agreements and AWAs must pass a ‘no disadvantage test’. This test
is applied to ensure that the conditions contained in the certified agreement or AWA
when considered, as a whole, are no less favourable to the employee than the
relevant award.
The onus is on the practice (employer) to ensure that staff are provided with terms
and conditions in accordance with the relevant award. Practices may be liable to
make additional payments to staff if they do not comply with individual award terms
and conditions and could be fined for non-compliance.
Copies of the awards cited above are available from www.wagenet.gov.au. Type in
the relevant Award code next to the box at “option three” on the Wagenet homepage.
For specific questions about the operation of Awards, practices may contact their
‘employment adviser’ or the VHIA.
The area most likely affected by Common Rule Awards will be in relation to penalty
payments and payments for work outside the normal spread of hours or overtime.
For example, some changes might include:
Wages: apply at the first pay period on or after 3 January 2005 no later than 5
January 2005. Annual Leave Loading applies to leave taken on or after 31
January 2005 and leave calculation includes service prior to common rule award.
Redundancy entitlements: The redundancy pay conditions in these awards may
be limited. Most of these awards have a limit on the period of service that will
count for any calculation of redundancy entitlements. You should consult the
relevant Victorian Common Rule Award for the exact conditions that apply.
Annual Leave Loading: Annual Leave Loading will only be payable to employees
starting a period of annual leave on or after 31 January 2005.
Accident Make Up Pay: Any accident make-up pay entitlement will only apply to
any injury occurring on or after 3 August 2004.
Time and Wage Records & Payslips: You must provide comprehensive payslips to
all employees and keep accurate wages records on each employee for at least seven
years.