Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00551:clause:1_4:p6
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00551
Segment Type: clause
Provision Reference: sch 1 cl 4 (pt 6/8)
Character Range: 15160–17882

a free and informed manner, including by informing the employees of the time, place and method for the vote

    15.         Employees should be given a reasonable opportunity to vote on a proposed enterprise agreement in a free and informed manner. This should include:

        (a) a voting process that ensures the vote of each employee is not disclosed to or ascertainable by the employer, and

        (b) a method and period of voting that provides all employees entitled to vote with a fair and reasonable opportunity to cast a vote.

    16.         Employees should be informed of the time, place and method for the vote:

        (a) at least 7 full calendar days before the day on which voting starts (for example, if the voting is to start on 9 May, employees should be informed on or before 1 May), or

        (b) by such other reasonable time before the day on which voting starts as is agreed with one or more employee organisation(s) acting as bargaining representative(s) for a significant proportion of the employees to be covered by the agreement.

NOTE 1: Section 181(1) of the Fair Work Act provides that an employer that will be covered by a proposed enterprise agreement may request the employees employed at the time who will be covered by the agreement to approve the agreement by voting for it. If the agreement is a single-enterprise agreement (so that the employer is required by section 173(1) to give employees the notice of employee representational rights), section 181(2) provides that the request must not be made until at least 21 days after the day on which the last notice is given. Section 180A requires that, in relation to a multi-enterprise agreement, the employer must not make a request under section 181(1) unless each bargaining representative for the enterprise agreement that is an employee organisation has provided the employer with written agreement to the making of the request, or a voting request order made by the FWC permits the employer to make the request.

Section 182(1) provides that a single-enterprise agreement that is not a greenfields agreement is made when the employees of each employer that will be covered by agreement have been asked to approve the agreement under section 181(1) and a majority of those employees who have cast a valid vote approve the agreement. Section 182(2) provides that a multi-enterprise agreement is made when the employees of each employer that will be covered by agreement have been asked to approve the agreement under section 181(1), those employees have voted on whether or not to approve the agreement, and a majority of the employees of at least one of those employers who cast a valid vote have approved the agreement.