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agenda
pg. 1
PRELIMINARIES
Venue
The meeting will be held in the Boardroom of the Master Builders Association of New South
Wales, 52 Parramatta Road, Forest Lodge, beginning at 8.30 am.
1.0 ATTENDANCE
2.0 APOLOGIES
3.0 CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
4.0 BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
4.1 INTEGRITY BILL PASSES HOUSE – INTRODUCED TO SENATE
SUMMARY
The Federal Government's "Ensuring Integrity" legislation has passed the lower house,
after IR Minister Christian Porter sought to "correct the record" on claims put by
opponents of the Bill.
REPORT
The Committee is advised that The Minister told Parliament that "a number of things"
had been said about the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring
Integrity) Bill 2019 that are "worthy of significant correction", starting with the matter of
"standing" to initiate proceedings to remove union officials from office or deregister an
organisation.
He claimed that such formulations for standing had been a feature of IR legislation
going back to 1904.
As for the Minister having standing to make such claims, "it is already the case, under
the existing provisions of the Registered Organisations Act, that the Minister has
standing to make an application for cancellation of the registration of a registered
organisation – and that surely accords with common sense.
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"That has been a longstanding provision in this legislation dating back to 1977.
"So the use of that as a reason to oppose the bill is unfounded," the Minister said.
He also defended the use of the term "person with a sufficient interest" for those
seeking to deregister unions or remove officials, noting that then IR Minister Bill Shorten
used it when he sought that the HSU East Branch be put into administration in 2012.
After the House passed the legislation, the Government introduced it to the Senate.
The Senate had already referred the legislation to an inquiry that is due to report by 25
October 2019.
Meanwhile, a Coalition-dominated lower house human rights committee has repeated its
earlier criticisms of the "integrity" legislation.
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Nil
WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY
4.2 2019 REVIEW OF THE DUST DISEASES SCHEME
SUMMARY
The NSW Legislative Council's Standing Committee on Law and Justice has sort
submissions from interested parties into the 2019 Review of the Dust Diseases scheme
REPORT
The Committee was previously advised that the 2019 review will focus on the response
to silicosis in the manufactured stone industry in New South Wales.
The Committee is advised that Master Builders NSW has provided a submission to the
NSW Legislative Council’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice on reviewing the Dust
Diseases Scheme.
The MBA NSW submission contains a number of important Recommendations to the
Committee on the monitoring and use of crystalline silica in the workplace.
A copy of the submission is attached to the Agenda.
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee recommends that:
“MBA NSW support the Submission to the NSW State Government on 2019 Review of
the Dust Diseases Scheme submitted by MBA NSW.”
ATTACHMENT
Attachment #1
agenda
pg. 3
5.0 NEW BUSINESS
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
5.1 “INTEGRITY” LEGISLATION FLOUTS INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS
SUMMARY
New analysis warns the Morrison Government that it will breach two key ILO conventions
if it proceeds with its revived legislation to make it easier to deregister unions and
disqualify their officials.
REPORT
The Committee is advised that research by the UK-based International Centre for Trade
Union Rights has landed as the government and unions are lobbying key Senate
crossbenchers over the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring
Integrity) Bill 2019.
The paper, by the ICTUR's director Daniel Blackburn and researcher Ciaran Cross on
behalf of the ACTU says the Bill would allow the Minister, the ROC and any person "with
sufficient interest" – which could include employer groups and lobbyists – to seek to
have union officers disqualified or unions deregistered.
It says these provisions are "incompatible with Australia’s commitments" under the
ILO’s Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948
(No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).
In particular, the report cites Articles 2 and 3 of Convention 87 which deal with workers'
rights to establish their own organisations and to draw up their own rules and elect their
own officials.
It says the legislation conflates serious crimes and minor legal infractions, blurs joint
and individual liabilities, and establishes "punitive sanctions that are both
disproportionate and arbitrarily directed".
It argues the criminal law should apply without special dispensation for unions, but the
Integrity Bill allows for disqualification of officials and deregistration of unions for
"designated offences" which include relatively minor breaches of industrial law.
The report notes that the standards for disqualification from office are stricter than
those applying to Federal MPs, who are barred from nominating as candidates if serving
a prison sentence of 12 months or more.
It argues that allowing persons with "sufficient interest" to apply for disqualification of
officials and for deregistration of unions is not "a recipe for industrial peace."
"In operation it turns the current system of registration into one under which the basic
purpose of freedom of association – which should be guaranteed without restriction or
impairment – may be severely curtailed on minor grounds, at the initiation of employers
or other parties hostile to organised labour.
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"This creates instability and unpredictability in industrial relations and such an outcome
is unlikely to benefit even those who are advocating it.
"Deregistered unions are unlikely to roll over and die – a fact to which Australia’s own
historical experiences with deregistration can testify.
"On the contrary, such measures are likely to exacerbate conflicts over industrial and
employment policies.
Overall, the report says the Bill is even more oppressive than Turkey's labour laws and
"invites comparisons with the regulations deployed by repressive regimes."
It also compares the proposed legislation to laws introduced by a Brazilian dictatorship
in the 1940s that was "probably the closest [to the Integrity Bill] of all those we
considered".
"For Australia to propose an industrial law reform that would bring it closer to the
example provided by Brazil’s historical dictatorship than to those found in modern
Western Europe illustrates just how alarming these developments are.
"The proposal is not merely 'out of step' with the industrial relations systems of
comparable countries; it has no rightful place in a modern liberal democracy."
ACTU president Michele O'Neil says Australia already has one of the most restrictive
regimes of regulations on workers’ organisations among democratic nations.
"This extreme new law would align Australia with authoritarian, undemocratic countries,"
she said.
IR Minister Christian Porter has argued that the 2019 Bill introduces new and
streamlined cancellation grounds to deal with registered organisations that are closer to
the law relating to companies and company officers under the Corporations Act.
These changes have been made to an earlier Bill – which was introduced in 2017 but
not passed before this year's federal election – after it failed to win crossbench support.
Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring Integrity) Bill 2019,
Research paper by the International Centre for Trade Union Rights, on behalf of the
Australian Council of Trade Unions, by Daniel Blackburn and Ciaran Cross – July 2019.
EM says Bill "reasonable and proportionate" on rights
The 2019 Bill's explanatory memorandum maintains that the changes do not affect the
rights of workers to continue to be represented because an "organisation that obeys the
law and complies with its rules is not at risk of having its registration cancelled".
The EM says that the Federal Court can make alternative, lesser orders to disqualifying
an official or deregistering a union.
agenda
pg. 5
"Providing for the possibility of disqualification from office and restricting who can be
elected to office, in circumstances where a ground for disqualification has been made
out and the Federal Court considers disqualification just, is a rational means of ensuring
greater compliance with the standards of conduct reasonably expected of officers, and a
rational method for improving governance of organisations more generally."
"Any limitations on the capacity of registered organisations to regulate their affairs as
they see fit are a necessary and proportionate means of ensuring greater compliance
with the standards of conduct reasonably expected of officers and improving the
governance of registered organisations," it says.
"These are reasonable and proportionate methods of ensuring that officials who
deliberately disobey the law are restricted in their ability to be in charge of registered
organisation.
"It is also necessary and proportionate that the sanction of disqualification for a
substantial number of members’ failure to comply with core industrial laws is placed on
officials as it is incumbent on those in leadership positions to promote a culture of
compliance.
"This will serve to protect the interests of members and support public order by ensuring
the leadership of registered organisations act lawfully."
The EM says that article 8(1) of ILO Convention 87 specifically provides that, in
exercising the rights to freedom of association, workers, employers and their respective
organisations shall respect the law of the land.
"Choosing to register under the Act is a privilege governed by the existing Act.
"Organisations registered under the Act do not currently have freedom to conduct their
affairs in any way they see fit, but are bound by the Act.
"When organisations or their officers deliberately breach the Act then there must be an
effective sanction if the system of registration is to remain meaningful. In the case of a
registered organisation, the sanction could include losing the right to expand through
amalgamation, being placed into administration, or losing registration.
"Consistent with the existing structure for the registration of industrial associations, the
Bill makes clear that there is a framework within which registered organisations must
operate."
The legislation has been referred to a Senate Inquiry.
The Committee will be kept informed of the Bill’s passing.
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment #2
Attachment #3
agenda
pg. 6
5.2 ETU READIES FOR ACTION OVER UNDERPAID CASUALS
SUMMARY
The ETU's newly re-elected leadership has reaffirmed its commitment to pursue
underpayments to long-term casuals, vowing to conduct a targeted national program of
timesheet and wage record inspections to build its case.
REPORT
The Committee is advised that the ETU assistant national secretary Michael Wright said
that thousands of workers are owed back payments in the wake of the Skene decision,
in which a full Federal Court held that a long-term casual was an employee entitled to
annual leave payments.
Earlier this year, the union established a campaign website calling for casual workers to
register if they had been engaged in regular, systematic and predictable rosters.
Wright said that workers engaged as casuals are more vulnerable than other workers –
being effectively "sacked" after completing each shift – and this raised difficulties in
gathering evidence to support legal claims for back payment.
"It has a chilling effect on people being willing to give affidavits and other evidence," he
told Workplace Express.
"We're looking for people working regular, systematic and predictable shifts.
"There's nothing casual about those workers being flown into a remote mine site in WA."
Wright said that inspecting time sheets and wage records would allow a "safety in
numbers" approach and the union would not run a case "if our members say 'Don't'."
He said that class actions could be a "useful tool" in different situations, such as the
Queensland coal mining industry, which has thousands of casual and labour hire
workers.
However, companies and contractors operating with FIFO arrangements and remote
construction projects might only have 30 to 40 employees each.
In a separate development, the ETU says it will seek to roll out across the NSW
construction sector the pay and conditions included in a new deal struck last month
covering the NorthConnex tunnel project in Sydney's north.
Recently approved by Commissioner Bissett, the Fredon NorthConnex and CEPU Project
Agreement will run from late July until a nominal expiry date of September next year and
includes pay rises of about 5.4% for a grade 5 worker.
It includes back pay to January 1, plus a $3.75 per hour site allowance, a $2 per hour
productivity allowance and improved travel time arrangements.
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pg. 7
The agreement also includes apprentice rates for directly-hired apprentices, with first-
years paid between 50% and 55% of the grade 5 pay rate, rising to 82% for fourth years.
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Nil
5.3 NEW SOUTH WALES SECURITY OF PAYMENT CHANGES
SUMMARY
The NSW State Government has announced that the latest round of security of payment
reforms will commence on 21 October 2019.
REPORT
The Committee is advised that in 2018, the NSW State Government enacted the
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Act 2018 (NSW)
(Amendment Act), which was to commence on a date to be fixed. The New South Wales
government has now announced that the Amendment Act will commence on 21 October
2019.
The Amendment Act introduces a number of significant reforms to security of payment in
New South Wales, including:
Abolition of the concept of 'reference dates'. Under the Amendment
Act, the most significant change is the removal of the 'reference date'
concept, with progress payment and payment claim provisions being
simplified. A claimant has a default entitlement to serve a payment claim
on and from the last day of the month in which construction work was
first carried out (or related goods and services first supplied), and then
on and from the last day of each subsequent month. If a construction
contract provides for an earlier date for the serving of a payment claim in
a particular month, the claimant may serve the payment claim on and
from that date;
Re-introduction of the endorsement. The Amendment Act re-introduces
the requirement that payment claims must expressly state that they are
made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment
Act 1999 (NSW);
Shorter subcontract payment terms. The Amendment Act shortens the
maximum payment period for payments from a head contractor to a
subcontractor, from 30 business days to 20 business days after the date
of the payment claim;
Payment claims following termination. Where a construction contract
has been terminated, the Amendment Act introduces a statutory
entitlement for a claimant to serve a payment claim on and from the date
of termination. This amendment will overcome all court decisions to the
contrary.
agenda
pg. 8
Withdrawal of adjudication application. The Amendment Act introduces
a right for a claimant to withdraw an adjudication application. However, a
claimant will not be able to withdraw an adjudication application if the
respondent objects to the withdrawal and the adjudicator considers that
it is 'in the interests of justice' to uphold the objection.
Severance of an adjudication determination. The Amendment Act
expressly provides that, if upon a review of an adjudication
determination, the Supreme Court finds that part of the adjudication
determination is affected by jurisdictional error, the Supreme Court can
set aside only that part of the adjudication determination. This avoids the
instance of a jurisdictional error in only part of an adjudication
determination affecting the enforceability of the entire determination.
The New South Wales government has also made a new amending regulation,
the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Regulation
2019 (NSW). Among else, this amending regulation specifies:
the offences for which penalty notices may be issued; and
the executive liability offences, which is where individuals may be liable
for offences committed by a corporation (broadly, these are offences
which relate to the obligations to keep trust accounts for retention
money).
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment #4
Attachment #5
5.4 SUPPORTERS PAY CFMMEU OFFICIALS’ PERSONAL PENALTIES
SUMMARY
Supporters of the CFMMEU have kicked-in $20,000 to pay personal fines imposed on
two officials.
REPORT
The Committee is advised that an online crowd-funding appeal, authorised by Victorian
Trade Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari, raised the money to pay the personal
penalties levied on CFMMEU Construction and General Division Victorian Branch
organisers Stephen Long and Drew MacDonald in the Qanstruct case.
The Federal Court made personal payment orders (PPOs) against Long ($11,500) and
Drew MacDonald ($7,800) for entry rights and adverse action breaches, while also
imposing fines of $100,000 on the union.
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pg. 9
Justice Mordy Bromberg barred the organisers from receiving money or financial
benefits from the union to pay the fines, but did not bar public fundraising that did not
involve the union or its resources.
In February, the VTHC said it raised $44,000 in four days to pay the fine of another
CFMMEU official, Joseph Myles, who received a PPO in separate legal proceedings.
The latest fundraising effort featured in discussion on a weekly community radio show,
Concrete Gang, which is presented by the Victorian Branch.
One host said: "It's something we've got to get used to, as rank-and-filers and community
members, because these fines are going to continue. . . we don’t want it to be the same
people all the time. We're going to have to share the burden."
Another host said the fundraising efforts gave "other officials confidence" that the
community supported them on the job, while sending a similar message to the Federal
Government.
According to the ABCC, PPO’s are currently being sought against 33 CFMMEU
representatives in 14 cases.
The courts have made four PPO’s so far – two against CFMMEU official Joseph Myles
and one each against Long and MacDonald.
The ABCC has a number of prosecutions afoot in which individual workers are named as
defendants, along with CFMMEU officials and the union.
These include cases in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
One involves an alleged walk-off in Brisbane after workers complained about employers
taking down CFMMEU flags (Brisbane) and an alleged walk-out and picket in Perth over
redundancy payments.
The construction watchdog has launched civil prosecutions of 53 Melbourne workers
from Liberty OneSteel for allegedly taking unlawful industrial action during the last
national union rallies in October 2018.
An ABCC spokesperson said the regulator is not currently seeking personal payment
orders against individual workers.
"It will be up to the courts to determine whether any individual worker is penalised if
their actions are proven to be unlawful.
"The ABCC has not made any application that the workers be personally liable for the
payment of their penalties."
The CFMMEU declined to comment.
The Committee is also advised that fines imposed on individual workers arising from
ABCC prosecutions – as opposed to personal payments orders - are generally paid by
the CFMMEU.
agenda
pg. 10
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Nil
5.5 NEAR RECORD NUMBERS COVERED BY MARCH QUARTER AGREEMENTS
SUMMARY
Bargained private sector pay rises remained below 3% in the March quarter, but the
number of employees covered in the period rebounded to near-record levels, according
to new Attorney-General's Department data released.
REPORT
The Committee is advised that the Attorney-General’s Department Trends in Federal
Enterprise Bargaining Report shows that the 1,256 private sector agreements endorsed
in the March quarter provided an average annualised wage increase (AAWI) of 2.9% to
284,600 employees over 3.2 years.
The 2.9% private sector quantum is the same as that for the December quarter last
year, but down from 3% in the September quarter.
However, the latest quarter delivered a rebound in private sector agreement numbers,
which are at the highest level since the December quarter of 2016.
Meanwhile, the number of employees covered by March quarter private sector deals is
the second-highest of any quarter since the official start of enterprise bargaining in
1991.
The number covered in the March quarter was only exceeded by the 364,100 under
deals approved in the December quarter of 2012.
Large private sector agreement deals approved in the quarter included the Victorian
Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2018 (27,445 employees, 3.1%AAWI),
the Bupa Aged Care Australia, NSWNMA, ANMF (NSW Branch) and HSU NSW Branch,
New South Wales Enterprise Agreement 2018 (3,491 employees, 3.7% AAWI) and the
Uniting Care Health & QNMU – Nurses and Midwives – Enterprise Agreement 2018 –
2021 (2,556 employees, 2.5% AAWI).
In the public sector, the 74 agreements approved in the quarter provided an AAWI of
2.4% to 83,200 employees over 3.1 years.
The number of public sector deals approved in the quarter is the highest since the
December quarter of 2011.
Large public sector agreements approved in the March quarter included the University of
Melbourne Enterprise Agreement 2018 (15,902 employees, 2.5% AAWI), the University
of Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2018 – 2021 (11,986 employees, 2.5% AAWI) and
the ACT Public Sector Administrative and Related Classifications Enterprise Agreement
2018 – 2021 (8,811 employees, 2.7% AAWI).
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pg. 11
Across the economy, the 1330 agreements approved in the quarter paid an AAWI of
2.7% to 367,900 employees over 3.2 years.
The number of employees covered is the second highest in 28 years of data, only
exceeded by the 415,900 recorded in the June quarter of 2009.
The department was unable to quantify pay increases in three major March quarter
agreements that between them covered almost 150,000 workers (Woolworths
Supermarkets, Westpac Group and David Jones).
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment #6
5.6 SENIOR VICTORIAN CFMMEU OFFICIAL ARRESTED
SUMMARY
Victoria Police have confirmed that the arrest of a senior CFMMEU official during a raid
at his home stems from an investigation into the "alleged provision of materials and
labour in exchange for favouring contractors".
REPORT
The Committee is advised that the Victorian Police Fraud and Extortion Squad, together
with officers from AFP Fraud and Anti-Corruption, arrested CFMMEU Construction and
General Senior Vice President Derek Christopher at his Keilor Lodge property, along with
a 44-year-old woman.
Christopher's arrest reportedly stems from allegations that he sought free building
materials from contractors and renovation work at his property, in return for favourable
treatment.
Police confirmed that they also arrested a 52-year-old woman following a warrant at a
property in Keilor, seizing "a number of items including computers, mobile phones and
paperwork" during the operation.
Media representatives appear to have been present at the raids, uploading video
footage and photos on Twitter, including footage of a man purportedly being driven out
of Christopher's Keilor Lodge property in a police 4WD.
A Victorian Police spokesperson confirmed that the arrests were part of a 13-month
investigation into allegations of "fraud relating to the building industry", which she says is
"not related to the [Heydon] Royal Commission".
Rather, the investigation deals with "individuals within the construction / building
industry and the alleged provision of materials and labour in exchange for favouring
contractors".
agenda
pg. 12
As well as interviewing the trio before laying any charges, she says police have "also
interviewed six men and one woman as part of this investigation".
"They were interviewed in relation to the offence of receipt / solicitation of a secret
commission and are expected to be charged on summons," she says.
The union is yet to comment.
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Nil
5.7 WAGES TO CONTINUE TO FLATLINE
SUMMARY
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has projected that the current pattern of
"unusually" slow wage growth will likely continue until at least 2021, Governor Philip
Lowe reminding a parliamentary committee that any pick-up was "both affordable and
desirable".
REPORT
The Committee is advised that appearing before the House of Representatives Economic
Committee, Philip Lowe said the central bank's recent downward revision of annual
growth in the economy largely reflected a drop-off in consumption, itself a reflection of
suppressed wage growth.
While the RBA had previously calculated that a tightening labour market would spark
wages, Lowe said the unemployment rate had risen to 5.2% "despite employment
growth having been stronger than we had expected".
"What has happened is that increased demand for labour has been met with more
labour supply, especially by women and older Australians," Lowe explained.
"Reflecting this, a higher share of the Australian adult population is participating in the
labour market than ever before.
"This is good news.”
"But one side-effect of this flexibility of labour supply is that it is harder to generate a
tight labour market and so, in turn, it is harder to generate a material lift in aggregate
wages growth."
While the RBA expected employment growth to taper, the Governor said the bank's
"central scenario" was for unemployment rate to return to 5% in 2021.
agenda
pg. 13
"If things evolve in line with this central scenario, it is probable that we will still have
spare capacity in the labour market for a while yet, especially taking into account
underemployment," he cautioned.
"This means that the upward pressure on wages growth over the next couple of years is
likely to be only quite modest, and less than we were earlier expecting.
"Caps on wages growth in public sectors right across the country are another factor
contributing to the subdued wage outcomes."
Overall, confirmed Lowe, "my view is that a further pick-up in wages growth is both
affordable and desirable."
Lowe's comments came a year after he told the same parliamentary committee that,
when it came to workers sharing in the favourable business conditions, "we just need to
pay them a bit more".
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Nil
5.8 FAIR WORK CONTRAVENTIONS FOR COMPANY, DIRECTOR AND SITE
MANAGER AFTER REFUSING UNION ENTRY
SUMMARY
The Federal Circuit Court of Australia has declared that the conduct of a company
director and site manager in refusing a union representative entry meant that the
company had also participated in the contravention.
REPORT
The Committee is advised that in the matter of Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining
and Energy Union & Ors v Hanssen Pty Ltd & Ors (2019) FCCA 1664 that the Court found
that Hanssen Pty Ltd (Hanssen) as well as Hanssen’s director and site manager had
contravened ss 501 and 502 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act).
Hanssen was the principal contractor at a construction site in Perth. On 9 December
2016, two representatives from the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy
Union (CFMMEU) attempted to enter the site to investigate possible contraventions of
the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1984 (WA).
Both CFMMEU representatives held entry permits in accordance with the FW Act, which
entitled them to enter the premises to investigate suspected contraventions of
occupational health and safety laws. They advised the Site Manager that the suspected
safety breaches were based on a number of photographs that the CFMMEU
representatives had received from someone at the site.
agenda
pg. 14
This led them to believe there were recent and potential safety concerns on Hanssen’s
site, including a failure to provide workers with fall prevention equipment. The Site
Manager advised the CFMMEU representatives that he could not allow them entry and
that they needed to speak with his manager (a director of Hanssen) before allowing
them entry to the site.
The Committee is also advised that Section 501 of the FW Act prohibits a person from
“refusing or unduly delaying” entry to premises to a permit holder, while s 502 prohibits
a person from intentionally “hindering or obstructing” a permit holder from exercising
their rights.
The Court found that the site manager had authority to control entry onto Hanssen’s
premises. Accordingly, by imposing a requirement that he speak to Hanssen’s director
before allowing the CFMMEU representatives on site, the Court held that the site
manager had breached ss 501 and 502 of the FW Act as he:
effectively refused entry to the CFMMEU representatives, and
hindered and obstructed the CFMMEU representatives, as he was
indifferent as to whether or not they were permit holders.
The Court heard evidence that the site manager brought the director to the area outside
the site where the CFMMEU representatives were waiting. A conversation between the
director and one of the CFMMEU representatives then ensued. The Court found that the
director was “aggressively defiant” and assumed an “entrenched position…that he was
not going to allow entry”. Accordingly, the Court found the Director had also contravened
ss 501 and 502 of the FW Act.
The Court found, having regard to the conduct of the director and site manager that the
company had also participated in the contravention.
The Committee is reminded that occupiers of premises should ensure that any workers,
in particular those with authority to control entry onto the premises and those who deal
with union arrivals at site, know what rights permit holders have and how to respond
when they seek entry onto site.
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment #
WORTH HEALTH AND SAFETY
5.9 NEW WHS GUIDE RELEASED FOR LABOUR HIRE BUSINESSES
SUMMARY
This Guide provides information for persons conducting a business or undertaking
(PCBUs) involving the supply of workers (labour hire PCBUs) to work for another business
or undertaking (host PCBUs) on complying with their health and safety duties under the
model Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws.
agenda
pg. 15
REPORT
The Committee is advised that the primary duty of care under the model WHS Act is
owed by a PCBU to a ‘worker’, which includes a labour hire worker. All labour hire
PCBU’s and host PCBU’s have a primary duty of care to ensure, so far as is reasonably
practicable, the health and safety of labour hire workers engaged by, or caused to be
engaged by them, or whose activities are influenced or directed by the PCBU.
Duty holders should not assume that someone else is taking care of a health and safety
matter. Find out who is doing what and work together with other duty holders so risks
are eliminated or minimised as far as reasonably practicable. What is reasonable
practicable will depend on the circumstances.
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee note the Report.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment #7
6.0 GENERAL BUSINESS
7.0 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Employment Relations Policy Committee will be held on
Wednesday 18 September 2019 at 8.30am.
Peter Glover
SECRETARY