Following a vote of the Enterprise Agreement (EA) on 28 August 2018, HCF applied to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on 10 September 2018, for approval of the proposed EA.

The United Services Union (USU), on behalf of members who participated in meetings throughout the bargaining process, was not in support of the EA approval by the FWC and as such on 3 October 2018, the USU submitted the F18 (Statutory declaration of employee organisation in relation to an application for approval of an enterprise agreement) to the FWC stating our objection to approval of the proposed EA.

Question 4 of the F18 says “Does the Union support the approval of the Agreement by the Fair Work Commission?” the USU answered No, based on the following:

  1. Annual leave loading of 17.5% will not be payable to any new EA employees. The Union believes that the prior conditions should be maintained in the new agreement for all staff, including new staff.
  2. Clause 5 will not be ‘Monday to Sunday 7am to 9am inclusive’ with a penalty rate of 150# for all hours worked on a Saturday and 200% for all hours worked on a Sunday. This will mean no overtime for Saturday afternoon. This will apply to “non-direct unit” employees i.e. Branches, Claims, and Administration etc. HCF have stated that this is only for Branches initially however it may over the course of the agreement be applied to other areas of the business i.e. Claims, Administration etc.
  3. Grievance Procedure clause does not allow for arbitration by the Fair Work Commission, only conciliation. The Union believes that where the parties cannot reach an agreement there needs to be a mechanism in the EA to allow for arbitration by the Commission to ensure disputes can be determined and resolved.
  4. Clause 11 will be a 2.5% base wage increase effective 1 July 2018, 2019, 2020. However Employees will only be entitled to the wage increase based performance rather than skill. Also, the targets around performance and vague and unclear.

Since this submission, there was a lengthy delay in receiving a response from the FWC. On 27 November 2018, HCF and the USU were provided with a “Notice of Listing” from the FWC. This was scheduled for today, 29 November 2018, however both parties were unable to participate today and as such, alternate dates have been provided to the FWC for the Listing to proceed.

The USU will keep you updated as the matter progresses.

If you have questions on this matter, please contact your EA Bargaining Representatives:
Emma Bonanno – ebonnano@hcf.com.au
Nadasha Tuwhakaraina – ntuwhakaraina@hcf.com.au

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Emily Callachor
USU Organiser
ecallachor@usu.org.au