Industrial awards are a common feature of the employment landscape in Australia. These awards have previously been handed down through Industrial Relations Commissions for either the whole of Australia by the Federal Industrial Relations Commission or for each state by the various State IR Commissions. There are a number of awards which apply to employees in architectural practices.  Although complex, the system and the interaction of different jurisdictions were well understood.

When the previous Federal Government introduced changes to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 known as WorkChoices this fundamentally changed the source of Awards information and the Industrial Relations relationship that a business has with its employees driven by the type of corporate structure chosen by the principals.  The commencement date of the amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 was 26th March 2006.

On this date all existing Federal Awards were duplicated as well as State Awards being duplicated into the Federal system.  The reason for this duplication was that the application of a particular award is now dependent on the business being subject to the Corporations Act 2001

Federal Awards now have 2 versions which are referred to as either a Pre Reform Award or a Transitional Award.  The Transitional Award is applicable to those businesses that have chosen not to become incorporated.  The Pre Reform Award applies to incorporated businesses.  In addition, each award has some statement regarding the applicability of that particular award.  For instance, the Federal Architects Award applies to employees who are either registered architects or studying to be or working towards being so registered with the over-riding caveat that it only binds those practices listed in the appendices of the award.

Duplicated State Awards were drawn into Federal relevance by the application of a process referred to as the Notional Agreement Preserving State Awards, NAPSA for short.

Incorporated Companies now need to refer to awards prefixed as AP for a Pre Reform Award and AN for a NAPSA Award.  Each prefix is followed by a unique 6 digit number for each award.  In this time of transition, care needs to be taken to ensure the document that is being used contains the most recent changes.  Currently there are Pre Reform Awards for Architects employed in architectural practices.  The current NAPSA awards apply to clerks and draftspersons differently in each state.

Sole traders, partnerships and other un-incorporated commercial structures would refer to the Federal Transitional Awards, prefixed as AT and the relevant State Awards still being administered by the independent State Industrial Relations Commissions.  Transitional Awards are being maintained by the Federal AIRC.

Some of these awards are not easily interpreted to understand their application to architectural practices as the awards tend to focus on, say, engineering production for draughting awards. The ACA provides information on how to interpret the award particularly in relation to the other categories of employee.

Those that don't come under an award, their basic conditions of employment and termination are covered by Workplace Relations Act 1996, Federal Minimum wage and 5 minimum conditions if you are a Corporation or non Corporation in the ACT, NT & Victoria. For all other non Corporations the relevant State Act provides for the minimum conditions.

The current Federal Government is in the process of Award Modernisation with the priority awards to be completed prior to Christmas 2008. The Clerical & Draughting Awards fall into this category

^top

+Employment Documents

Clarity and transparency are the key words that should be applied to the employment conditions of staff. Difficulties can occur if the conditions of employment are not well understood by either or both parties. Employment agreements should make it obvious as to how the award conditions are applied, how wages are calculated and paid and anything unique to the office concerned.

Federal Government policy directs suppliers of goods and services to Federal Departments and Authorities to offer AWAs to their employees and practices wishing to do business with the Federal Government will need to create and offer an AWA to their staff.  Transitional and NAPSA awards still contain some instances of “prohibited content” as defined by the WorkChoices legislation.  Your AWA will be examined to ensure that this is resolved.  The draft Employment Agreement we offer should help in formatting your particular AWA.

The expectation of the application of office procedures and methods outlined in an office manual or QA system should be made clear. The ACA recommends adoption of practices which make the progress of an employment relationship non-distracting to the principals of a practice so they can concentrate on the primary function of the office, the provision of design and documentation services to clients. To that end, we have a draft employment agreement and a suggested contents for an office manual. These two documents along with the appropriate award should make it clear as to the process to be adopted in most employment interactions.

^top

 

+Salary Rates

Clarity and transparency are the key words that should be applied to the employment conditions of staff. Difficulties can occur if the conditions of employment are not well understood by either or both parties. Employment agreements should make it obvious as to how the award conditions are applied, how wages are calculated and paid and anything unique to the office concerned.

The current allowable Employment Documents are Employee Collective Agreements, Union Collective Agreements, Greenfield Collective Agreements and Common Law Contracts. AWAs have been abolished and only businesses who, prior to 01/12/2007,  had AWAs may use the transitional agreements know as ITEAs and these have a nominal expiry date of 31 December 2009.,

Federal Government policy directs suppliers of goods and services to Federal Departments and Authorities to offer Code Compliant Agreements to their employees and practices wishing to do business with the Federal Government will need to create and offer Code Compliant Agreements to their staff.  Pre Reform, Transitional and NAPSA awards still contain some instances of “prohibited content” as defined by the Workplace Relations Act 1996.  Your Code Compliant Agreement will be examined to ensure that this is resolved. 

The expectation of the application of office procedures and methods outlined in an office manual or QA system should be made clear. The ACA recommends adoption of practices which make the progress of an employment relationship non-distracting to the principals of a practice so they can concentrate on the primary function of the office, the provision of design and documentation services to clients. To that end, we have a draft employment agreement and a suggested contents for an office manual. These two documents along with the appropriate award should make it clear as to the process to be adopted in most employment interactions .

+Resource Sharing

Members of the ACA have access to a bulletin board service for the posting of information about your need for resources. Practices have a large investment in staff and in times of low work, the ability to access overflow from other practices may assist in keeping a valued team together and provide the rewards to staff that they deserve. Conversely, a lot of time and effort is invested in developing a relationship with clients and to have the hard work threatened by a temporary lack of capacity is disheatening. A search of the bulletin board or a notice placed may bring just the additional capacity for the practice to be able to sensibly service the clients needs and the project demands.

The members only area contains, in addition to the information outlined above, newsletters and other communications from the ACA to members which are being constantly updated.

^top