Your Move

From 1 January 2010 there will be no legislative provisions for the making of individual agreements. Individual Transitional Employment Agreements (ITEAs) may still be made up until 31 December 2009 (with a nominal expiry date no later than 31 December 2009) and must still be lodged with the Workplace Authority.

From 1 July 2009 ‘collective agreements’ will be replaced by ‘enterprise agreements’. There are some changes to the matters which may be permitted in agreements (e.g. deductions from wages when authorised by an employee). The Fair Work Act 2009 also contains a new test—the better off overall test—which will apply from 1 January 2010.

This test will compare the terms of a proposed agreement against the relevant modern award to ensure employees will be better off overall. For agreements made up until 31 December 2009, the Workplace Relations Act 1996 no-disadvantage test will continue to apply. Collective agreements made before 1 July 2009 must be lodged with the Workplace Authority.