When you decide to make an enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act, you must take all reasonable steps to give each employee who will be covered by the agreement a notice of their right to be represented by a bargaining representative.

Employees joining your organisation after this notice is issued cannot claim that they should have received the notice. However, all employees who will be covered by the agreement, regardless of when they became employees, can appoint a bargaining representative at any time up until the vote on the agreement.

If negotiations for an agreement take many months, new employees who will be covered by the agreement will have rights of representation, even though they did not receive a notice advising them of those rights.

And another thing – remember that there must be a clear 7 days (at least) between the time you request employees to vote on an agreement and commencement of the vote. When you request employees to vote you need to explain the voting process and when and where it will commence and end.

For more information on making enterprise agreements, please see the Enterprise Agreements chapter in your Employment Law Practical Handbook.

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Regards,

Charles Power
Editor-in-Chief
Employment Law Practical Handbook

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