Contracting Out of Award Still a No Go Zone

By Peter Punch

Australian workplaces have changed considerably in the last decade, but old principles are ignored by employers at their peril.

In the Federal Court decision in TCFUA v Givoni Pty Ltd [2002] FCA 1406, 15 November 2002 the actions of the employers demonstrated that they did not get the compulsory nature of the award system. Two employees in January 1993 of a clothing company approached the manager and asked if they could be paid under a different regime instead of the Clothing Trades Award. They organised to receive a set amount each week based on a 60 hour week, whatever hours were worked. This was aimed at avoiding the peaks and troughs of income depending on workflow.

When a dispute occurred in 1999 a union inspection of the books showed many unpaid hours of work. So the union prosecuted and the company was found to have breached the award. The court found that they could not contract out of the award.

(CCH Industrial Law News; issue 1, January 2003)