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ARTICLE · 02 SEPTEMBER 2024

All for one, but not one for all: multi-employer bargaining

Bartier Perry Solicitors
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Contested cases to resist being part of multi-employer bargaining will require detailed evidence and analysis.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
James Mattson
James Mattson
Hannah Lawson
Hannah Lawson
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There was a legitimate fear amongst employers that, under the amendments introduced by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (Cth), it would be all too easy for unions to apply for, and too hard for employers to resist, multi-employer enterprise bargaining.

The Secure Job, Better Pay legislation did make it easy for unions to rope in an array of different employers to bargain for a multi-employer enterprise agreement. Employers who objected were given the onus to prove they should not be included in the bargaining. But many questions were left unanswered as to how the new laws would operate in practice.

Would it be simply enough that employers were in the same industry or geographic area? What level of analysis would the Fair Work Commission undertake to determine whether employers will be ordered to bargain together with the union? What level of differentiation between employers would be needed to avoid being ordered to bargain

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