STATEMENT

Fair Work Act 2009
s.156 - 4 yearly review of modern awards

4 yearly review of modern awards
(AM2014/217 and others)

4 yearly review of modern awards – award stage – Group 3 and 4 awards – penalty rates issues.

[1] This statement deals with the outcomes of a conference held on 18 November 2014 in relation to a range of administrative and programming issues associated with the award stage of the 4 yearly review of modern awards (the Review) for awards in Groups 3 and 4. A transcript of the conference is available on the Fair Work Commission website. A list of the proposed sub-groupings for awards in Group 3 and 4 is set out at Attachment A of this Statement.

The General Process

[2] At the conference on 18 November 2014 there was broad support for the adoption of a similar process to that undertaken in relation to the Group 1 awards, that is:

(i) The awards in groups 3 and 4 will be divided into sub-groups to facilitate a more efficient hearing process and for the convenience of parties who only have an interest in a limited number of the awards being reviewed (the sub-groups are dealt with in more detail below).

(ii) Initial conferences will be held on 10 and 11 February 2015. The purpose of these conferences is to identify the nature of the issues to be raised by interested parties during the review of each of these awards. The conferences will start at 10.00 am and awards will be allocated a specific time slot during each day, once the award sub-groupings have been finalised. A detailed schedule for these conferences will be published on the Commission’s website on 16 December 2014.

(iii) Prior to the February conferences parties will be asked to identify the nature of any changes they intend to propose during the review of these awards. This material is to be filed by no later than 4.00 pm on 2 February 2015. All materials are to be sent to amod@fwc.gov.au.

(iv) After the February conferences the Commission will publish a draft Statement setting out the range of issues arising in each award and proposed directions for determining these matters. The proposed directions will include timelines for lodging written submissions and hearing dates. The directions will be in draft form and there will be a consultation period in which interested parties will be able to comment on the proposed directions and add to the range of issues identified in respect of each award. A Final Statement will be issued after the close of the consultation period.

(v) A draft of the proposed sub-groups is attached. Parties who want to comment on the draft groupings should do so by no later than 4.00 pm on Wednesday 10 December 2014. A final version of the sub-groupings will be published with the listing notice for the February conferences, on 16 December 2014.

Note: The groupings are not on the basis of similarity between the awards in each sub-group. Rather the intention has been to group interested parties, in order to reduce the number of Commission attendances required by parties who only have an interest in a limited number of awards.

Penalty Rates

[3] At this stage it appears that proposals to alter penalty rates may be made in respect of the following awards:

[4] The Pharmacy Industry Award 2010 is in Group 2 (while the other affected awards outlined above are in Group 4). The parties interested in this award have agreed that the penalty rates issue in that award should be dealt with in conjunction with the relevant awards in Group 4. The Commission agrees with this approach.

[5] A conference of the parties interested in the penalty rates issue in the above awards will be held on Friday 12 December 2014 at 10.30 am in Melbourne.

[6] The purpose of the conference is to deal with programming and scheduling issues associated with the penalty rates claims. There is already a measure of agreement in respect of the scope of these issues, in that all parties agree that the case is likely to require significant preparation time and that the hearings are likely to commence in the second half of 2015.

[7] Parties are to file a list of the matters to be discussed at the conference (including their position, in summary form, in respect to each of those matters) by no later than 4.00 pm on 4 December 2014. All materials are to be sent to amod@fwc.gov.au. It would facilitate the process if those proposing changes could also file an outline in relation to:

● the nature and scope of the changes sought;
● an estimate of the extent of the witness evidence; and
● the number of hearing days required.

[8] It is desirable that parties attend this conference in person. If for some reason that is not possible a video link will be organised on request. Such requests need to be made no later than 4.00 pm on 8 December 2014 to chambers.ross.j@fwc.gov.au.

Other Matters

[9] A request was made in relation to the Broadcasting and Recorded Entertainment Award 2010 for a separate conference before a Member of the Commission for those parties involved in the cinema industry. Once that request has been confirmed it will be referred to a Member for a conference.

[10] The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) proposed that the State Government Agencies Administration Award 2010 be dealt with by the Full Bench which is presently dealing with an application to make a State reference public sector modern award. The CPSU submitted that the parties have identified issues in that application which will be relevant when the State Government Agencies Administration Award 2010 is reviewed. A representative of the Victorian Department of Treasury submitted that due to the caretaker conventions the Victorian Government is not presently in a position to respond to the CPSU proposal. Once the caretaker period has ended the parties are to have discussions about how this matter should proceed and are to advise the Commission of any agreed position.

Timeline

[11] To assist the parties a timeline setting out when various submissions are due and when conferences are being held is set out at Attachment B to this document.

PRESIDENT

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ATTACHMENT A—Group 3 and 4 awards—draft sub-groupings

Group 3

Sub-group 3A

Sub-group 3B

Sub-group 3C

Sub-group 3D

Group 4

Sub-group 4A

Sub-group 4B

Sub-group 4C

Sub-group 4D

Sub-group 4E

Sub-group 4F

ATTACHMENT B—Timeline