Role of the Fair Work Commission in Approving of Agreements Sample

Question: Discuss the Role of the Fair Work Commission in the Making and Approving of Agreements. Answer: Introduction In the modern era, there are various industries that are functions in the economy and it is seen that various complex strategies and operational plans are initiated in order to survive in the economy. Out of all the activities that are initiated by a business, employees play a vital role in the development of a firm. The organizations try to construct various strategic plans so that they keep their employees happy and satisfied. However, there are circumstances when employee relations get disrupted due to various factors and that leads to ineffective functioning of the business. The employees who work in an organization are simple citizens of the world and therefore, any problems that are faced by them is a cause of concern for the Government and therefore construct various Commissions that tries to resolve all the problems pertaining to the employees (Stewart et al., 2014). In Australia, the Government of Australia has constructed the Fair Work Commission that is a industrial relations tribunal that abides by the Fair Work Act of 2009. This Commission has the power and the authority of regulating the minimum wages that requires to be paid and other relevant issues to reduce the level of discrepancies and allowing the organizations functioning in the Australian economy to abide by the policies framed by them (French et al., 2014). The paper therefore, tries to find out the process agreement, permission for the agreement, the steps involved and the strengths and weaknesses of the Commission. Fairs Works Commission The industrial relations tribunal looks to secure the perspective of the employees and thereby enhancing their position in the economy and the organization. The Commission has a procedure and any problem requires to be gone through a proper procedure before an action is taken. The following are the various points that this essay tries to discuss. How does the Fair Work Commission make agreements? The Fair Work Commission undertakes an agreement in order to create a treaty among the employers and the employees (Layton et al., 2013). The Fair Work Commission provides collective information about the methods of establishing agreements of enterprise as well as evaluate the approve agreements. An agreement regarding an enterprise is undertaken between one or more employers and among employees consisting of two or more with the help of the selected agents. It is seen that where Greenfield agreements take place where there are no staffs, the owner makes a negotiation with employee unions consisting of one or more (Australian Human Rights Commission 2016). The Fair Work Commission acts as a middleman between the agreements that are undertaken between two or more employers and two or employees and maintains record for their relationships. The Commission is the legal body that acts a regulating body and announces decisions when there are any problems within the agreed parties. Therefore, it is seen that Fair Works Commission is the statutory body with respect to industrial relations. How does the Fair Work Commission approve agreements? The Fair Work Commission being the regulatory body looks into all the actions that are related to industry relations and undertakes various policies and recommendation plans to make amendments in the policies and regulations. An agreement is not valid unless it is approved by the Commission. The commission before approving the agreement undertakes various evaluation processes in order to find out all the information that are associated between the parties undertaking the agreements (Charlesworth, Macdonald 2015). The commission provides a form where all the information regarding the parties needs to be mentioned and then submitted along with the various other documents like identity proofs, agreement documents and the time span of the agreement. The commission analyzes every section of the documents and examines the validity of the agreement and then after various speculations approves the agreement to the parties. The Fair Work Commission being the only commission that looks into the industrial relations is loaded with various burdens and responsibilities that they need to undertake in order to keep a dispute free economy. What are the steps that are involved in making and approving of agreements? After the completion of bargaining, an agreement has been proposed where few specifics steps require to be taken to ascertain the agreement can be approved by the Fair Work Commission. The various steps that are involved are as follows: Pre-approval steps taken by employers Explanation of the terms taken by employers Terms Explained It is the work of the employer to undertake reasonable steps to make sure that the terms of the agreement and the impact on those terms are described to the employees. The description is given in a suitable manner (Creighton et al., 2016). Notice and Vote to Approve A vital section of the employees who are working in a firm during the time who will come under the agreement proposed must agree for the proposal by giving a vote for it. The vote requires to undertaken within 21 days after the last day when the employees were provided with a notice about their rights (Davis 2014). The employer needs to undertake various seteps to make sure that during the 7 day period of access the employed employees at the time who will come under the agreement are provided with a copied document of the agreement and any other documents that are incorporated by reference in the agreement. The employer must requires to take all the steps tom make sure that by the initiation of the 7 day access period the pertinent employees requires to be notified of the time the vote will undertake, the place of the vote and the method used for voting. Applying to the Commission for approval After the completion of the enterprise agreement, a bargaining agent for the agreement requires to apply to the Commission for permission of the agreement with the use of Form F16, which is an form for application for the permission of enterprise agreement, which can be discovered in the website. The application requires to be submitted to the Commission within 14 days of the agreement being established or in the time provided by the Commission. The application requires to be submitted with a copy of the agreement that is signed along with any assertions that the Fair Work Commission Rules 2013 or policies to escort the application Form F17, which is an employers avowal in sustenance of application for permission of the enterprise agreement (Izzo 2016). The process of completed application can be submitted via email, express post or in person at any Commission offices, or can be electronically be forwarded through the Online Lodgment Service. Considerations of the Commission To endorse an agreement of an enterprise, the Commission must be gratified that: The pre-approval process have been undertaken The agreement has been authentically concurred to by the pertinent employees The agreement undergoes the better off overall test The agreement does not have any conditions, which prohibits or have the impact of leaving out the NES or a stipulation of the NES (Clibborn 2015) The agreement does not incorporate any unlawful tenures or delegated outworker terms The cluster of employees wraps by the agreement was moderately selected The agreement states a date as its ostensible expiry date i.e not more than 4 years after the date the Commission approves The agreement gives a disagreement settlement process The agreement is inclusive of a suppleness clause and a clause of consultation. Undertaking Approvals The Commission may endorse an agreement of the enterprise that are not meeting the obligations of the Fair Work Act 2009 if it satisfies through a written undertaking meeting the issues (Wilson Pender 2017). The Commission only grants a written statement from an employer, after looking for the visions of each bargaining agents and if they are satisfied that the impact of granting the undertaking is not likely to have an effect on the financial damage to any employee and result in considerable transformations to the agreement then they are approved. Approval When the Commission grants the agreement it will publish a decision with the granted agreement and any responsibilities acknowledged by it are attached (Biggs et al., 2015). A copy will be forwarded to all the involved parties, and the agreement and decisions will be published in the website. the strengths and weakness of the process The strengths are discussed as follows: For Employers: The process can provide a much easier process for compensating its employees in comparison to the severe submission of the pertinent modern award. In various working environment there are various awards that applicable to its employees, but even where there is no the possibilities for application and interpretation of a modern award can be multifaceted and time-consuming for employers (Findlay Thompson 2017). An EBA process can rationalize this method by integrating overtime, rates of penalty, remunerations and other award prerogatives into a base rate owed to employees according to the categorization degree under the award. For Employees: It provides an assurance that the period of the EBA process puts them in a place that is Better Off Overall than if they were remunerated according to the innovative award. Fair Work Australia will not grant an EBA unless the BOOT is gratified, which ranks the employee in a better situation due to the EBA outcomes (Shofinita Langrish 2014). The bargaining method of an EBA also gives the employees with the chance to link together and to bargain collectively on the rules of the agreement, often with the advantage of union illustration. Weakness For Employers The major drawback is the cost and time necessary to bargain the EBA and to go through the process of approval with Fair Work Australia. There is a stern development and timeframe that must be undertaken and any breakdown to follow these can lead to refusal of the EBA. For Employees There are generally not many drawbacks for being a party of the agreement process. If an employee requires to be symbolized by the union then they require to pay union fees which, over time-period, can lead to noteworthy figures of money (Worth Squelch 2015). Furthermore, in order to be granted an EBA needs majority of the vote. If an employee are not in terms with the union or with the bulk votes then they do not have any choice other than to be a part of the agreement. Conclusion The above paper therefore, as a whole describes all the work an the process that are undertaken by Fair Work Commission and it is seen that they have a lot of burden of work that they function. The paper discusses about the agreement and the process undertaken by the Commission in order to efficiently approve and maintain the agreements. The paper even describes the approval process and reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the process. References Australian Human Rights Commission. (2016). 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