Have you been handed the new ETU (Electrical Trade Union) agreement and asked to sign it? It’s a hefty document for sure with some hidden (and expensive) details that may sting your business if you don’t spot them.
Below we analyse how this agreement compares with the current industry award (Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award [MA000025]), and where some of the more devilish details may be hiding.
This blog will look at:
- The changes to hours and conditions
- The differences to pay rates and structures
- What this means for you as a business owner
Changes to hours
Full-time and Part-time workers
The first primary change to the award is how may hours an employee is required to work. According to the ETU, to be classified as a full-time employee, you now need to work an average of 36 hours per week. This is down from the award specified 38 hours per week. Similarly, to be classified as a part-time employee, you need to work a regular pattern of hours that adds up to an average of less than 36 hours per week.
Casual Workers
Just like part-time workers, to be considered a casual worker, you need to work an average of less than 36 hours per week. However, the changes to casual work do not end there.
The casual workforce now has a much higher minimum engagement. From Monday to Friday, a casual worker must be engaged for a minimum of 8 hours (a full day’s work). On Saturday and Sunday, a casual worker must be engaged for a minimum of 4 hours. This is up from the award minimum of 2 hours any day of the week.
It is worth noting that this does not mean the worker must work for these 8 and 4 hours respectively, but they must be paid their hourly rates for these hours as effectively a ‘call-out’ fee. This is an effort designed by the ETU to balance out their lack of leave and job security.
Changes to pay
The largest hidden detail in the new agreement is the changes made to the labour costs for electrical workers you may be required to pay.
Casual
The ETU EBA (at cl. 5.5 (b)) adds on a 20% loading for casuals. This is down from the 25% loading in the award. While this decrease seems positive at first, it is quickly gobbled up by the increase to 30% casual loading after a casual employee works with you for 8 weeks or more.
However, it’s not all bad news! It is now cheaper for employers to engage casual workers on public holidays, with the loading fee now ‘only’ being 250% of their hourly rate, down from the industry standard 312.5%.
Allowance changes
The more sizeable additionally expenses in the ETU EBA can be seen in how allowances are now treated. The following are some of the more drastic changes from the industry award:
Hourly Rate Changes
The ETU Enterprise agreement has also butt in significant changes to the minimum hourly rates which are to be paid to all electrical workers.
Apprentice rates:
Additionally, apprentices enjoy a significant increase in their hourly rate in the ETU EBA versus the minimum in the Award:
What Does This Mean for You?
As you can see, this template ETU agreement is costly for employers and may even be prohibitively expensive for some smaller companies hoping to win work or larger, unionised projects. Therefore, it may be worth considering whether you are happy to ‘sign your life away’ and lock into this template EBA or whether you want to utilise our help to negotiate with your employees to find a suitable ‘middle ground’ that is tailored to your specific organisational needs, has a sustainable cost footing and will benefit everyone equally.
It is worth noting that you do not have to sign onto this EBA. If it is simply not viable for your business, no amount of trade union pressure can make it so. You also can’t be legally refused access to work on a project just because you don’t have a ‘union-blessed’ EBA.
If you need support assessing your IR options, negotiating your own tailored EBA or end-to-end support with managing your trade union relationship, we’re here to help! We specialise in supporting employers (large and small) through EBA projects from start to finish. So, no matter what stage you are at with your own EBA, if you have any questions or want any support, reach out and let us know.
If you would like to know more about this or any other queries you may have, you can contact the workplace lawyers/ IR experts at Workplace Wizards team on support@workplacewizards.com.au or 03 9087 6949.
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