Gippsland - How Now Gippy Now - May 2010 Edition
Working in dairying can be flexible
There’s good news for dairy farmers and workers in the new Pastoral Award 2010 which contains a ‘flexiblity clause’ that allows employees and employers to vary some conditions if both parties agree.
These ‘Individual Flexibility Agreements’ are easy to set up, but they do need to comply with the ‘better off overall test’.
The conditions that can be varied under Individual Flexibility Agreements (IFA) include working hours, overtime rates, penalty rates, allowances and leave loading.
IFAs are quick and straightforward in that they do not need to be approved by Fair Work Australia but they must meet the ‘better off overall’ test: an employee must be better off overall on the IFA compared to the modern award.
It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure the agreement is made correctly and meets all of the requirements of the Fair Work Act.
To make it easier for dairy businesses to set up IFAs, a template is available from the People in Dairying program which can be downloaded and customised for each individual agreement. It also has more details on IFAs and how they work.
For more information contact The People in Dairy: http://www.thepeopleindairy.org.au or call 9620 7283.
