Three types of enterprise agreements
Under the new Fair Work Act 2009, there are 3 types of enterprise agreements:
- Single-enterprise agreements: made between a single employer and a group of employees. They can involve more than one employer in limited cases (e.g. where 2 or more employers are engaged in a joint venture).
- Multi-enterprise agreements: made between 2 or more employers and groups of their employees.
- Greenfields agreements: single-enterprise and multi-enterprise agreements relating to a genuine new enterprise of the employer(s) that are made before any employees to be covered by the agreement are employed. Greenfields agreements are made with one or more relevant unions.
All of these are collective agreements.
Unions involved in bargaining for an enterprise agreement may choose to be covered by the agreement.
Individual agreements
From 1 January 2010, you can no longer make individual agreements.
An individual transitional employment agreement (ITEA) could only be made by certain employers and employees and only on or before 31 December 2009. ITEAs needed to be made and lodged with the Workplace Authority before 31 December 2009 or they could not start operating.
Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) could only be made until 27 March 2008.
Existing ITEAs and AWAs will continue to operate until they are terminated.