1Fair Work (General) Regulations 2024

South Australia Fair Work (General) Regulations 2024 under the Fair Work Act 1994

Contents Part 1—Preliminary 1 Short title 2 Commencement 3 Interpretation 4 Declared employer for public employees 5 Employment excluded from Act Part 2—Enterprise agreements 6 Notice to be given by association 7 Notice to be given by employer 8 Requirements for signing enterprise agreement Part 3—Miscellaneous 9 Unfair dismissal 10 Awards relating to disabled workers 11 Continuous service 12 Continuity of industrial arrangements—National Industrial Relations System Schedule 1—Notice of intention to negotiate enterprise agreement under Fair Work Act 1994 Schedule 2—Recognised organisations Schedule 3—Repeal of Fair Work (General) Regulations 2009 Legislative history

Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title These regulations may be cited as the Fair Work (General) Regulations 2024. 2—Commencement These regulations come into operation on the day on which they are made. 3—Interpretation In these regulations— Act means the Fair Work Act 1994. 4—Declared employer for public employees For the purposes of paragraph (a) of the definition of employer in section 4(1) of the Act, the person for the time being holding or acting in the position of Chief Executive of the Attorney‑General's Department is declared to be the employer of public employees. 5—Employment excluded from Act (1) Pursuant to section 6(b) of the Act, employment which consists of part‑time or casual employment performed in or about a private residence is excluded from the ambit of the Act provided that the work is wholly or mainly performed for a domestic purpose. (2) In this regulation work is performed for a domestic purpose if it is not performed for the purpose of the employer's trade or business. Part 2—Enterprise agreements 6—Notice to be given by association (1) Pursuant to section 75(2)(b) of the Act, an association which proposes to enter into an enterprise agreement on behalf of a group of employees must give notice of that proposal to the group of employees in accordance with this regulation. (2) An association acting under subregulation (1) must take reasonable steps to ensure— (a) that a written notice is given to each employee currently constituting the group proposed to be bound by the enterprise agreement; and (b) if practicable, that a written notice is displayed at the employees' workplace. (3) A notice prepared under this regulation— (a) must be expressed in plain language; and (b) must state the full name of the association; and (c) must provide the name and the phone number of an officer of the association who can be contacted for further information in relation to the proposed enterprise agreement; and (d) must identify the group of employees who would or might be bound by the proposed enterprise agreement with enough particularity to enable an employee to determine whether or not they are or might be in the group; and (e) must contain a statement advising employees in the group— (i) that if the association is authorised by a majority of the employees constituting the group to negotiate on their behalf, the association may enter into an enterprise agreement under the Act which would bind all members of the group; and (ii) that any employee within the group who is a member of the association will be taken to have given an authorisation for the purposes of the Act unless the employee, by written notice to the association, withdraws the authorisation; and (f) must provide details of the means by which an employee within the group who is not a member of the association may give an authorisation to the association for the purposes of the Act; and (g) must be signed by or on behalf of the association. (4) The association should, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure that a notice displayed in a workplace under this regulation is in such languages as are appropriate for a significant number of the employees to whom the notice is addressed. (5) If an employee reasonably requests that a notice given to the employee under this regulation be supplied in a language other than English, the association must take reasonable steps to provide the employee with a copy of the notice in the language requested. 7—Notice to be given by employer (1) Pursuant to section 76(1) of the Act, an employer must give notice in accordance with this regulation that negotiations for an enterprise agreement are about to begin.1 (2) An employer acting under subregulation (1) must take reasonable steps to ensure— (a) that a written notice is given to each employee currently constituting the group proposed to be bound by the enterprise agreement; and (b) if practicable, that a written notice, in such languages as are appropriate for a significant number of the employees to whom the notice is addressed, is displayed at the employees' workplace. (3) A notice prepared under this regulation— (a) must be expressed in plain language; and (b) must include a statement that the employer proposes to begin negotiations on the terms of an enterprise agreement and propose a date and place for the commencement of those negotiations; and (c) must identify the group of employees who would or might be bound by the proposed enterprise agreement with enough particularity to enable an employee to determine whether or not they are or might be in the group; and (d) may outline the employer's proposed procedure for negotiations on the terms of the enterprise agreement, including the anticipated time frame for the negotiations and any proposed consultative arrangements; and (e) may outline matters that the employer proposes to be subject to negotiations for an agreement; and (f) must be signed by or on behalf of the employer; and (g) may take the form of the notice set out in Schedule 1. (4) If an employee reasonably requests that a notice given to the employee under this regulation be supplied in a language other than English, the employer must take reasonable steps to provide the employee with a copy of the notice in the language requested. (5) Two or more employers who may be involved in negotiations on the terms of the same enterprise agreement may, if they think fit, give a notice under this regulation jointly. Note— 1 Under section 76(1) of the Act notice is not required if the agreement is negotiated to settle an industrial dispute, or SAET determines that there is good reason in the circumstances of the case to exempt the employer from this requirement. 8—Requirements for signing enterprise agreement (1) Pursuant to section 77(1)(g) of the Act, an enterprise agreement must be signed— (a) on behalf of an employer, by— (i) the employer; or (ii) a person duly authorised by the employer to sign on the employer's behalf; and (b) on behalf of the employees, by— (i) those employees currently constituting the group proposed to be bound by the enterprise agreement and who approve of the agreement; or (ii) an authorised officer of an association which has been authorised to enter into the agreement on behalf of the employees under section 75(2) of the Act; or (iii) a person duly authorised by those employees currently constituting the group proposed to be bound by the enterprise agreement, and who approve of the agreement, to sign the agreement on their behalf. (2) If an enterprise agreement contains a provision authorised under section 77(1)(d) of the Act, the agreement must also be signed by an authorised officer of the association of employees that has been given the right to represent the industrial interests of the employees to the exclusion of another association of employees. Part 3—Miscellaneous 9—Unfair dismissal Pursuant to section 105A(2) of the Act, the following classes of employees are excluded from the ambit of Chapter 3 Part 6 of the Act: (a) employees serving a period of probation or a qualifying period of employment, provided that the duration of the period or the maximum duration of the period— (i) is determined in advance; and (ii) is reasonable, having regard to the nature and circumstances of the employment; (b) casual employees, except where— (i) the employee has been engaged by the employer on a regular and systematic basis for a sequence of periods of employment during a period of at least 6 months; and (ii) the employee has, or would have had, a reasonable expectation of continuing employment by the employer; (c) employees whose conditions of employment are governed by an award, enterprise agreement or contract of employment that makes specific arrangements concerning unfair dismissal that, when considered as a whole, provide protection that is at least equivalent to the protection afforded to employees under Chapter 3 Part 6 of the Act. 10—Awards relating to disabled workers (1) Pursuant to section 113(1)(c) of the Act, the bodies or organisations listed in Schedule 2 are declared to be recognised organisations for the purposes of section 113 of the Act. (2) Pursuant to section 113(3) of the Act, an award under section 90 of the Act cannot regulate the wages or salary payable to a person to whom section 113 of the Act applies. (3) For the purposes of subregulation (2), wages or salary do not include— (a) amounts payable by way of rates or shift premiums; or (b) amounts payable for overtime; or (c) allowances. 11—Continuous service (1) Pursuant to Schedule 8 section 1(3) of the Act, in ascertaining whether an employee's period of service is continuous the following events or matters are to be disregarded: (a) a— (i) suspension, stand down or other interruption; or (ii) termination, by the employer of the employee's employment for the purpose of avoiding the employer's obligations under Schedule 8 section 1 of the Act; (b) an absence from work by the employee on authorised leave; (c) subject to subregulation (2), an absence from work by the employee due to— (i) the employee's illness; or (ii) an accident to the employee; (d) subject to subregulation (3), an absence from work by the employee, if there was reasonable cause for the absence; (e) subject to subregulation (4), an absence from work by the employee due to concerted or collective industrial action; (f) any other absence from work, unless notice is given under subregulation (5) in relation to that absence. (2) Subregulation (1)(c) does not apply to an absence from work unless— (a) if the employee is required by the terms of an award or order of a court or tribunal that has power to fix wages and other terms and conditions of employment, or an agreement certified or approved by such a body, to— (i) notify the employer of an absence from work; and (ii) substantiate the reason for that absence, the employee complies with those terms; or (b) in any other case—the employee informs the employer within 24 hours after the commencement of the absence, or within such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances, as to— (i) the employee's absence and inability to attend work; and (ii) whether the absence is due to illness or accident; and (iii) the likely duration of the absence. (3) Subregulation (1)(d) does not apply to an absence from work unless— (a) if the employee is required by the terms of an award or order of a court or tribunal that has power to fix wages and other terms and conditions of employment, or an agreement certified or approved by such a body, to— (i) notify the employer of an absence from work; and (ii) substantiate the reason for that absence, the employee complies with those terms; or (b) in any other case—the employee informs the employer within 24 hours after the commencement of the absence, or within such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances, of— (i) the employee's absence and inability to attend work; and (ii) the reason for the absence; and (iii) the likely duration of the absence. (4) Subregulation (1)(e) does not apply to an absence from work if SAET has determined that, for the purpose of determining the employee's entitlement to notice of termination of the employee's employment or to compensation instead of notice, the absence is to be taken as breaking the employee's continuity of service. (5) For the purposes of subregulation (1)(f), the employer may give to the employee written notice in accordance with subregulation (6) that the absence from work is to be taken as breaking the employee's continuity of service with the employer. (6) A notice under subregulation (5) (if any) must be given— (a) by delivering it to the employee personally or posting it to the employee's last known address; and (b) during, or within 14 days after the end of, the period of absence. (7) A notice given by an employer under subregulation (5)— (a) may be withdrawn by the employer; and (b) if withdrawn, is taken not to have been given. 12—Continuity of industrial arrangements—National Industrial Relations System (1) Pursuant to Schedule 2 clause 2(1)(b) of the Act, the following modifications are made to a federal industrial instrument within the operation of that Schedule (as it applies as an award or enterprise agreement under the Act): (a) a reference to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the Commonwealth or to the Fair Work Act 2009 of the Commonwealth will be taken to be a reference to the Fair Work Act 1994; (b) a reference to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission or to Fair Work Australia will be taken to be a reference to SAET. (2) Pursuant to Schedule 2A clause 3(1)(e) of the Act— (a) the Municipal Officers (SA) Award 1998 is excluded from the operation of clause 3(1) of that Schedule; and (b) the following modifications are made to a federal industrial instrument within the operation of that Schedule (as it applies as an award or enterprise agreement under the Act): (i) a reference to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the Commonwealth or to the Fair Work Act 2009 of the Commonwealth will be taken to be a reference to the Fair Work Act 1994; (ii) a reference to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission or to Fair Work Australia will be taken to be a reference to SAET. Schedule 1—Notice of intention to negotiate enterprise agreement under Fair Work Act 1994 To all employees 1 Take notice that                               (name of employer) proposes to begin negotiations for an enterprise agreement. 2 The— (a) proposed date for commencement of negotiations1 is: (b) proposed place for commencement of negotiations is: 3 It is proposed that the enterprise agreement will bind the following employees: (insert here the names, categories or classes of employees—the description used should be sufficiently precise to allow employees to determine whether or not they are in the group that the employer proposes will be bound) 4 Employees have the right to be represented in the negotiation of, and in any proceedings for approval of, the enterprise agreement by an employee association registered under the Act, or another agent of your choice.2 5 Employees to be involved in these negotiations can gain access to copies of the industrial awards which currently regulate their employment in the following manner: (insert here the name of the relevant award and the proposed method of access to the award in the workplace eg insert the name of a person who employees can contact to examine a copy of the award)