Modern Award Meeting
17th of January 2012
Virgin Lounge, Melbourne
Attendance
Frank McMahon, Kaylene Little, Adam Main, Helen Jenkins, Brian Jeffriess, Jacqui Sowry,
Trudy McGowan (Phone), Alistair Dick (Phone)
Apologies
Craig Foster
1. Indicative Budget Discussion
$12K no Site Inspections
Tassal $3,000
HAC $3,000
ASBTIA $3,000
$3,000- Prawn and Barra to be confirmed
$25K with Site Inspections
Tassal $6,000
HAC $6,000
ASBTIA $6,000
$7,000 Prawn, Barra and others to be confirmed
Action:
 Helen to seek confirmation of contributions from Prawn, Barra and ‘other’ as required.
 Brian to approach Craig Foster for contribution from Cleanseas in both options
 Trudy - to confirm what funding is coming from oysters
2. Award Discussion- Distant Travel
Frank introduced
 section 21: Ordinary hours of work and rostering Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award
2010.
 Section 15.7 Points of assembly- remote work Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award
2010.
 Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010
Travelling time- paid as working or paid for travelling time? Applicable for travel by boat and car.
Getting to the workplace is travel time and should be paid at ordinary rates. In finfish industry the
workplace can be a significant distance from base.
Aim: The travel time not considered part of their working hours; but it is reimbursed at ordinary
rates and stops going into overtime early. Must be managed with respect to fatigue etc. Look to
clause in the dredging award. There are a number of other awards available to support this position.
Risk: Union ‘may’ see that it is eroding their current conditions with respect to overtime payments.
Recommend that a site visit would benefit this request.
Final fall-back position, this clause could show variation within it for different industries (i.e. Tuna vs.
oyster)
Pac – reef indicated that whilst prawn is pond based there is travel required for brood collection etc
so they also see benefit in supporting this as a benefit.
Oysters indicated that they consider this travel time to be smoko/break time....
3. Award Discussion- section 36. Ordinary hours of work and rostering
Frank introduced
 Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010
 You are a day worker or a continuous shift worker, or non-continuous shift worker.
 36.5 is very important- if you want to take advantage of 36.5, an EBA is required.
Day workers
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36.2 Day workers- (c) makes reference to an additional hour ‘either end of the spread’ such
that 5.00am to 7.00am is possible without the need for overtime payment.
36.5 allows the employer to set work cycles; weekly, monthly, 12 months.
Qualify as an afternoon shift worker if their shift ends after 6.00pm
For a day worker, is it possible to amend clause so that a 12 month work cycle is possible?
Consider sections from the Seafood Processing Award (SPA) in particular 23.5; Action: Frank
to review.
There are a number of sections in the SPA that could be drawn across quite successfully.
Difference between wet processing (7 day need) and value add processing (weekdays) for
salmon.
With casuals and overtime, pay the overtime penalty rate, not the casual rate (SPA).
Need to determine a position on expectations for working on weekends. Classifying it as
‘ordinary hours’. Must consider the importance of cycles.
Decisions to make re Day workers:
1. SPA clause 23.5 but retaining Aqua penalties for ordinary hours on weekends
2. Model clause unchanged (note that cycle is not for 12 months for day worker)
3. Current aqua award but changed to 6 months
Decision Option Rank
1, 3 then 2 Tassal
1, 3 then 2 ASBTIA
1,3, then 2 Pac-reef
1 HUON – see this as the only option
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Effectively keep clause 19 in current Aquaculture – then add shift provision clauses that
are absent - Frank will review and come back
Annual leave cash out to be included
 No objection from group – what this will mean is that employees must retain a balance of 4
weeks annual leave and can seek to cash out excess balance by agreement with the
employer.
Long service Leave
 Was discussed particularly in relation to casuals. If a casual keeps coming back season after
season then they can argue they are not casuals and employers should accrue LSL for these
employers (pro rata at 7 years then pay out at 10 years).
 What constitutes a casuals – it is assumed that casual employees morph into full time
employees.
 It may be better to treat these as seasonal workers paid at normal rates (not casual) pay out
a/leave at the end of the season and if they come back any accumulated sick leave can be
rolled over to the following year.
 Suggested that casual/seasonal employees to offered in writing at the start of each season if
they would like to be employed as a permanent part time and paid at lower rates, if they
don’t and want to remain as casual then you have it in writing.
General comment during teleconference
 Key factor for oysters is junior rates all other items they are comfortable with
 Prawn see work cycles as key issue over junior rates
 Tuna/Salmon would not want to risk issues of hours/rosters to secure junior rates
 Action – Frank to investigate previous Junior rate provisions
 Action – Frank to meet with Mgr FWA Modernisation project (Brendan Howe) to discuss
how to move forward with strategy both in seek variation or as part of award review along
with seeking opinion on possibility of arranging site visits. Frank to circulate outcome. From
here a strategy will be formulated
Hatchery workers – left out
These groups of employees are considered award free and should be treated as such, best not to
include them in an award or raise this as an issue.
This would have a huge impact for all aquaculture groups if this was to be included in an award.
Important to note – those with EBA’s or WPA’s
When it comes time for an EBA to expire - before they can be presented to employees for continuing
– they WILL have to meet and pass the BOOT test.
If you have an EBA in place – don’t deviate from it and agree to other conditions put forward by
employees or employer to suit various conditions or requirements. Doing so undermines the EBA
validity.
Next steps
Circulate minutes of this meeting to our members.
Frank to contact the FWA Manager and seek advice as to how to progress with the changes
identified – should he proceed straight to submitting an aggressive submission, seek amendments is
the preferred option and thoughts on getting a commissioner to visit farms.
Timetable and actions will be prepared by Frank once he has spoken to the FWA Manager.
Note – Frank used other awards as examples of already having arrangements that we want already
in place. Those who attended the meeting believed it was better to use examples from the Seafood
Processing Award – namely clauses23.5, 23.6, 23.7, 24........ and including them in the Aquaculture
Award. Junior rates clause 17 could also be transposed.