Employers sign non-union contracts in fear of Fair Work

Employers who introduced non-union agreements prior to the introduction of the Government’s Fair Work legislation on 1 July should still remain vigilant about dealing with both employees and unions, a law expert warns.

The cautions come as figures released yesterday by workplace relations minister Julia Gillard show 3247 non-union agreements were made in the June quarter before the legislation came into effect on 1 July – a massive jump from the 801 agreements lodged in the previous quarter.

The figure means more than 122,000 employees are now signed to non-union agreements that could stay legal under transitional legislation for up to four years.

Workplace lawyer Peter Vitale of CCI Lawyers says the huge number of agreements indicates some hesitancy on the part of employers about the new Fair Work laws.

“This definitely demonstrates an apprehension about what might or might not have been included in the Fair Work Act. But also, I think many employers were well informed and perhaps the number of agreements is due to the fact these employers were fully aware it would be much more difficult to deal with employees under Fair Work.”

Vitali says the new Fair Work laws are demonstrating “it is nigh on impossible to deal directly with your employees without a union being involved in the process”.

The figures show the majority of the agreements were found in the construction, manufacturing, retail trade, property and business services, transport and storage and health and community services industries.

But Vitale warns employers who rushed to introduce non-union agreements in the June quarter that places of business are still finding it difficult to deal with new union right of entry laws.

“These workplaces are obviously still subject to union rights of entry, which is the regime set up under this legislation. Essentially this means they can’t afford to get lazy in dealing with their employees, and they need to communicate with their employees and continue to be good employers.”

“If they don’t communicate and deal with their employees in an effective and fair manner, then someone else will step into that role. It is still possible for a new enterprise agreement to override any non-union agreement, so employers need to be watchful for any suggestion there might be pressure for a new agreement.”

He also says these employers will eventually be forced to adopt agreements under the Fair Work legislation, and they should continue to familiarise themselves with the new laws.

“If you’re talking about what these people have to watch out for, it’s that time when their agreement ends and they’re going to be much more exposed to the potential that unions will want to involve themselves in their enterprise bargaining process.”