PROTECH COAL EXPORT EA 2027

An enterprise agreement (EA) is an agreement made between an employer and their employees in relation to the terms and conditions of employment.

An enterprise agreement must be approved by the Fair Work Commission, who ensures that all employees will be ‘Better Off’ under the agreement then they would be under the relevant Modern Award.

Enterprise bargaining is the process by which one or more employers and employees negotiate the terms and conditions to be included in an enterprise agreement. Either side can nominate to be represented by another party in the bargaining process, e.g. employees can nominate a fellow employee or a union as their bargaining representative.

Yes, an employee who will be covered by the proposed agreement may appoint themselves as their bargaining representative.

There is no set time frame for bargaining to conclude, as the time taken to complete the bargaining process is influenced by many factors.

Although the current enterprise agreement expires on 22 April 2027, that agreement continues to operate until such time that the new enterprise agreement is voted on and approved by the Fair Work Commission. 

The basic steps for negotiating an Enterprise Agreement are:

1. The Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR) is issued to employees before Enterprise bargaining begins. This signifies the start of the bargaining process and is a requirement under the Fair Work Act.
2. Employees have the opportunity to complete and return nomination forms to appoint their bargaining representatives. Where an employee is a member of a union, the union will be their default representative unless otherwise nominated. Please Note: Employees are free to nominate a Bargaining Representative at any point throughout the negotiations.
3. Negotiations are conducted in good faith to achieve a workable Agreement to be put to vote with the workforce, the date and time of the vote will be determined later in the negotiation process. Please Note: you will be kept up to date on the negotiations throughout the bargaining process and notified as we progress to vote.
4. At least 7 full days before the vote, Protech will issue a notice to all employees to be covered by the enterprise agreement that communicates the vote date, voting time, voting location, voting process, voting method and will provide access to copies of the final enterprise agreement and other relevant documents.
5. The agreement then goes to vote. For the agreement to be made, a valid majority “Yes” vote of 50% plus 1 of the votes cast is required.
6. Once a valid majority is reached, the agreement will be signed by management and the nominated employee representative.
7. Once signed, the agreement will be lodged with the Fair Work Commission who will conduct the “Better Off Overall Test” on the agreement in consultation with the involved parties.
8. Once approved by the Fair Work Commission, the new agreement will be in force and supersede the existing enterprise agreement.

No. The negotiation of an enterprise agreement remains separate from the making of a regulated labour hire order (often referred to as the “same job, same pay” laws).

No. An enterprise agreement is between the employer (Protech) and the employees (you). Protech’s clients are not a party to the enterprise agreement and are not involved in the bargaining process.

Fair Work Commission – www.fwc.gov.au

Fair Work Ombudsman – www.fairwork.gov.au