South Australian Consolidated Acts

FAIR WORK ACT 1994 - SECT 76

76—Negotiation of enterprise agreement

        (1)         An employer must, before beginning negotiations on the terms of an enterprise agreement give the employees who may be bound by the agreement at least 14 days' notice, in accordance with procedures prescribed by regulation, that negotiations are about to begin (but notice is not required if the agreement is negotiated to settle an industrial dispute, or the Commission determines that there is good reason in the circumstances of the case to exempt the employer from this requirement).

        (2)         The employer must, before beginning negotiations on the terms of an enterprise agreement, inform the employees of their right to representation in the negotiation, and proceedings for approval, of the agreement and, in particular, that an employee may be represented by the Employee Ombudsman, an agent of an employee's choice, or a registered association of employees.

        (3)         If an employer is aware that an employee is a member of a registered association, the employer must, before beginning negotiations on the terms of an enterprise agreement, take reasonable steps to inform the association that the negotiations are about to begin.

        (4)         An employer who negotiates an enterprise agreement with employees who are subject to an award must ensure that the employees have reasonable access to the award.

        (5)         A person involved in negotiations for an enterprise agreement must comply with procedures and formalities applicable to that person that are required by regulation.

        (5a)         If an employee involved in negotiations for an enterprise agreement suffers from an intellectual disability that prevents the employee from having a proper understanding of the negotiations, then any of the following may negotiate on the employee's behalf and take any steps that the employee might take if he or she did not suffer from the disability:

            (a)         a person who is—

                  (i)         a guardian at law of the employee; or

                  (ii)         the donee of a power of attorney from the employee; or

                  (iii)         an enduring guardian of the employee; or

            (b)         a person appointed to represent the employee's interests for the purposes of this Act by a person within the ambit of paragraph (a).

        (6)         This section does not prevent employees or a registered association of employees from initiating negotiations on a proposed enterprise agreement, but in that case, the employer must, before entering into the negotiations, give the notice and information required by this section to ensure that the interests of all employees who may be affected by the proposed agreement are properly protected.

        (7)         This section does not apply to negotiations on the terms of an enterprise agreement that is to be entered into on a provisional basis.