Benowa Children's Centre v Australian Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, Queensland Branch, Union of Employees [1995] QIRC 21 (1995) 148 QGIG 336

336 QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE [ IO February, 1995 QUEENSLAND INDUSTR IAL RELAT IONS COMM ISSION Industrial Rela tions Ac 1 I 990 s. 178 - application for approva l En terp rise Flex ibi lity Agreement Bcnowa Children· s Cen tre AND A 11 s tral i,m Liquor, Ho~pitality and Misce llaneous Workers Un ion. Queens land Branch, Union of E mp loyees BE"-OW A C III LDR[:\ 'S ('E'.\TRE E\T E RPR ISE FLEXIB ILITY AGREE.\tE'.\T - 1994 COMM ISSIONER NUTTER 27 Ja nuary 1995 Application for approval of Enterprise Fkxibility Agreement - Op pos ition by Union - No Un io n members on site - Refe rence lo !11 d11strial Re lmions Ac1 /99() - Com parison be tween Agrc::ment and Parent Award - Union su b mi ts no disadvantage test - Commission 1101 satis fied Agreement meets the no disad\'antage test -- Oppo,1ur1 ity g iven to the em ploye r lo amend agreement. DECISION In a dec is ion dated 20 December 1994, I adjourned proceed ings with respect lo an applicat ion for approvu l of the abovementioned agreement to enable the agreement lo he amended to comply \\'ith s. 18 0 o f the 1\ ct. I stated thal the following mnendmcnts would he requi red:-- • the cl auses re lating to \\'cekcnd work shou ld be a rrn: ndcd lo mee t the "no disadvantage" test: or alt.;mat ivc ly other compensating !'actors shou ld be written into the agreement . o that there is no reduction in cm plnycc o, cral l cntit lcm<.: nls. • provision should be made in the agree ment to record the unde11aki ng in re latio n to a 38 hou r week. Spec ifi ca ll y (withi n the dec isio n itscll) I ind icated for reasons stated in t he dec ision that I wa, o f the view t hat it wa~ not appo~itc 10 consider the rat es app licable lO wee kend work in 7 day pe r week in dus tr ies prev ious ly rc lerr ed to . Also in the decis ion I referred to the rates ap plicabk in other than the 7 day per week industries. Mr Moloney in a furth.:r hearing of th is maucr suhm illcd a proposal for variatio n to the ag ree ment to the cllcc t that all employees whose ordinary hours arc worked bctwccn 6.30 a.m. on a Saturday and 6.30 a . rn. on a Sunday shall he paid a 25% load ing for hours worked . Employees whose ordin ar y hours arc worked bd" ccn 6.30 a.m. on Sunday and 6.30 a.111. on Monday wou ld be pa id a 50% load ing for the hours worked. (This lall er prov ision was in the initial ag reement ). Nn offscuing prov isions are pro\'idcd. apart fr om a 15 % sh ill allowance for ordi nary ho urs worked hetwecn 6.30 p.m. and 6.30 a .m. (also in the. in itial agreem cnt ). T his allowance. wh ilst not the Comm iss ion standard, is the nonn in many awards of this Co mmission. 1390 1_1. DOC IOFeb ru ary, 1995] QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE Mr Moloney in h is sub mi ssions reite rated that lees charged by the centre had to be s trucl urcJ in such a way as to make it affordable for pa ren ts. Be that as it may. the proposal auempts to relate the rate for Saturday and Sunday work 10 7 day per week in dustries. I ha,·e a lready ex pressed my view on thi s matter in the decis ion of 20 December whe rein I sa id: - ·The situation in respect to long da y care in the ch il d care industry is tha t at the present ti me !he indus try is esscntiallv a 5 day per wee k. Mon day to r'riday opera t ion with hours bec:veen 6 .30 a. rn. and 6.30 p.m .". The que st ion as to whe th er such a service would be used on weekends ,II high er fees is a que s ti on of demand. Many private se rvice providers in o th er industries cha rgc higher rates a t wcekcnds. Ms Rogers for the union tende red a tab le indi cat ing that persons work ing at weekends pa id u nder the agreemen t would be worse off than if they worked u nder t he award. I adjourn proceed ings aga in to e nab le an appropri au: amendment LO be made. This can be in the i'onn of the ag re e.men! prov idi ng offseuing arrangements lO emp loyees to ba lance the reduced payments for weekend work in the ag reemen t (as compared to the parent award) or a vari at ion to t he wee.ke nd rates/arrangemen ts so that the no d isadvamagc t es t is satisl ied . In respect to the 38 hou r wee k matter. Mr Mo loney has agreed to provide a clause in the agreement wh ich wi ll automat ically vary the ord inary working hours when hours of work under the parent award are varied. Such a clause would meel the Commiss ion's requirements on this mailer. Order accord ing ly. B. J. NUTJ'E R. Co mmiss ioner Appear ances: Mr I.. M(>loncy for Livingstone, Austra lia on bdrnlf of th<.: fknowa Ch il dren ·s Cen tre . Ms P. R<>ge rs fur the ,\ u~tralian Liquor. llospita li ty and M iscellaneous Workers Un io n. Queens land Branch. Uni()n o f Employees (ALll!\-1WlJ ). Opera tive Date: NIA Dec ision - Ent erp ri se Flex ibility Agr(,ernen t Released: 27 Ja nuary 1995 337 1390 1_1 DOC -- 1 of 1 --