If your business employs staff in the road transport industry, modern awards are important. Having a basic understanding of the awards helps your business with compliance, as they make up part of Australia’s workplace relations safety net. It is unlawful to employ someone on conditions less than set out in the modern award together with the National Employment Standards.
On 4 May 2020, the two main transport awards are being republished as
- The Road Transport and Distribution Award 2020; and
- The Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2020.
NatRoad has been an active participant in modern award litigation since the review of all modern awards started in 2014. Representing the interests of road transport employers across Australia has been at the centre of all NatRoad work on modern awards.
Throughout the current review of modern awards, unions have been pushing changes that would enhance employee rights and entitlements which NatRoad has opposed. Whilst many of these changes have good intentions, they often come at great cost to business operations. One of the examples of where this has occurred is in getting a claw back from an employee when they resign without giving adequate notice. We fought to preserve this employer right and employers retain the right to get back a maximum of a week’s wages from employees where they don’t give sufficient notice.
The transport modern awards have changed mostly to include a number of small matters and to have some of the provisions re-cast in simpler language, with wage schedules now better set out.
NatRoad will be holding an education session via a webinar on 21 May 2020 to let people know about the changes and to show the application of the Awards through three case studies taken from recent member referrals.
NatRoad will continue to fight costly Award changes that could impact your operation, including one variation currently proposed that would require all non-driving time worked by long distance drivers to be paid at the loading or unloading hourly rate. Plus If there are award provisions that just don’t suit the way you operate, NatRoad can also assist with putting in place an enterprise agreement or individual flexibility agreements with works so as to tailor those arrangement to your company’s operations.
Learn more, register for our webinar Thursday 11:00 am 21 May 2020.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7111164426947569679
