If you are frustrated in having to calculate employee’s wages and pay entitlements, an enterprise bargaining agreement can help elevate that stress and timeliness spent determining payroll queries. Enterprise Agreements allow you to modify some entitlements to ensure ease of application in practice and allow terms to be read in a clear manner.
Why choose an Enterprise Agreement over a Modern Award?
Enterprise Agreements allow for entitlements to be clear and set out in a simpler way for both employer and employees to understand. Modern awards are often complex and require familiarity with entitlements and legislation when understanding the practical side.
Enterprise agreements will allow you to modify entitlements such as:
- overtime penalties;
- shift loadings;
- allowances; and
- hours of work.
In designing your own Enterprise agreement, you are able to clearly set out payroll and accounting related entitlements in a way that all parties understand with less confusion. This will eliminate costs associated in payroll and employers can draw their attention away from calculating wages and spend more time in running and growing their business.
Boundaries of an Enterprise Agreement
Although you may want to create a unique Enterprise agreement for your company, legislation requires a mandatory review of the Agreement with the Fair Work Commission before being used in practice.
The Enterprise Agreement must not:
- include unlawful or discriminatory terms;
- remove the right to unfair dismissal claims;
- provide entitlements less than the National Employment Standards;
- breach general protection provisions of the Fair Work Act; and
- result in employees being worse off than the Award.
Why would an employee agree to an Enterprise Agreement?
Employees would agree to an Enterprise Agreement for the following reasons:
- allows for a level playing field where employees are able to be heard and have a say in the rates and benefits payable to themselves and other employees;
- terms and conditions of employment are clearly set out and secure, allowing employees to see the foreseeable future in their employment;
- provides employees to be better off than the award provisions in a way that is more beneficial to their lifestyle compared to a streamline approach from the Modern Award; and
- employees may be more inclined to stay at the company longer as the benefits may outweigh other competing employers offerings.
If you would like to stop the hassle and stress associated with payroll relating to entitlements of penalty rates and allowances with different associated awards for your employees, contact us on 1300 445 687 to discuss potential options for an Enterprise Agreement for your company.
