Important changes in Australia’s workplace laws that affect horticulture employers and employees covered by the national workplace relations system came into effect from 1 January 2010.
These changes include the commencement of the modern Horticulture Award 2010 and the introduction of new National Employment Standards (NES).
Pay rates in modern awards (which in the Horticulture Award 2010 take place from 1 July 2010), together with minimum wage orders and the NES, make up the safety net that cannot be changed to the disadvantage of an employee.
In addition to the NES, an employee’s terms and conditions of employment in the horticulture industry generally come from the Horticulture Award 2010, or an enterprise agreement, an industrial agreement, or state and federal laws.
Further Information:
Which industries are covered by the Horticulture Award 2010?
The Horticulture Award 2010 covers employers and employees throughout Australia in the horticulture industry, as summarised below:
- agricultural holdings, flower or vegetable market gardens in connection with the sowing, planting, raising, cultivation, harvesting, picking, packing, storing, grading, forwarding or treating of horticultural crops, including fruit and vegetables upon farms, orchards and/or plantations; or
- preparation or treatment of land (including clearing, fencing, trenching or draining) for the sowing, raising, harvesting or treating of horticultural crops, including fruit and vegetables.
Where an employer operates in more than one industry, an employee would be covered by the award which most appropriately covers the work they normally do and the environment they normally work in.
Important! Horticultural crops includes all vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds, hops, nuts, fungi, olives, flowers or other specialised crops unless they are specifically named as a broadacre field crop in the Pastoral Award 2010.
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Which industries are not covered by the Horticulture Award 2010?
The award does not cover:
- the wine industry
- silviculture and afforestation
- sugar farming or sugar cane growing, sugar milling, sugar refining, sugar distilleries and/or sugar terminals
- any work in, or in connection with, cotton growing or harvesting, cotton ginneries and associated depots, cotton oil mills and the extraction of oil from seed
- plant nurseries, or
- a broadacre mixed farming enterprise as defined in the Pastoral Award 2010.
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Are there any other exceptions to coverage?
The award does not cover:
- an employee excluded from award coverage by the Fair Work Act 2009
- an employer bound by an enterprise award or an enterprise Notional Agreement Preserving a State Award (NAPSA) with respect to any employee who is covered by the enterprise award or enterprise NAPSA.
Where an employer is covered by more than one award, their employees are covered by the award which is most appropriate to the work they perform and the environment in which they work.
Where there is no classification for a particular employee in this award it is possible that the employer and that employee are covered by another award with occupational coverage.
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