WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION. PARTIES THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BUILDERS’ LABOURERS, PAINTERS & PLASTERERS UNION OF WORKERS, APPLICANT v. NATIONAL CERAMICS PTY LTD, RESPONDENT CORAM COMMISSIONER J F GREGOR DELIVERED TUESDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2000 FILE NO AG 223 OF 2000 CITATION NO. 2000 WAIRC 00918 __________________________________________________________________________ Result Registered Agreement Representation Applicant Ms L. Dowden appeared on behalf of the applicant Respondent No appearance on behalf of the respondent __________________________________________________________________________ Order. HAVING heard Ms L. Dowden on behalf of the Applicant and there being no appearance for the Respondent, and by consent, the Commission pursuant to the powers conferred on it under the Industrial Relations Act, 1979, hereby orders— THAT the agreement made between the two parties lodged in the Commission on 14 September 2000 enti- tled National Ceramics/BLPPU Collective Agreement 2000 be registered as an Industrial Agreement and re- places Agreement No. AG187 of 2000. (Sgd.) J.F. GREGOR, [L.S.] Commissioner. Schedule. 1.—TITLE This agreement shall be known as the National Ceramics / BLPPU Collective Agreement 2000. 2.— ARRANGEMENT Clause No. Title 1 Arrangement 2 Parties and Persons Bound 3 Application 4 Relationship to Parent Award 5 Period of Operation 6 Classification Structures & Rates of Pay 7 Industry Standards 8 Sick Leave 9 Negotiation of a Subsequent Agreement 10 Application of Project Agreements 11 Fares and Travelling Allowance 12 Seniority 13 All In Payments 14 Pyramid Sub-Contracting 15 Dispute Settlement Procedure 16 Safety Dispute Resolution 17 Amenities 18 Training and Related Matters 19 Drug & Alcohol, Safety & Rehabilitation Program 20 Clothing & Safety Footwear 21 Income Protection 22 Accident Pay 23 Union Membership 24 Y2K 25 Signatories to the Agreement 26 Appendix A—Drug & Alcohol, Safety and Rehabilitation Appendix B—Site Allowance 3.—PARTIES AND PERSONS BOUND This agreement shall be binding on National Ceramics Pty Ltd (hereinafter referred to as “the company”), and the West- ern Australian Builders’ Labourers, Painters and Plasterers Union of Workers (hereinafter referred to as “the union”) and all employees of the company eligible to be members of the union. 4.—APPLICATION This agreement shall apply to all employees of the com- pany engaged on work in or in connection with construction, alteration, maintenance, repair or demolition of buildings or other structures of any kind whatsoever. This agreement shall apply in Western Australia only. There are approximately 7 employees covered by this agreement. 5.—RELATIONSHIP TO PARENT AWARD 1. This agreement is supplementary to, and shall be read and interpreted wholly in conjunction with, the Building Trades (Construction) Award 1987, Award No. R14 of 1978 (herein- after referred to as “the award”). 2. In the event of any inconsistency between the award and an express provision of this agreement, the terms of this agree- ment shall prevail to the extent of such inconsistency, unless the express provision of the agreement provides otherwise. 6.—PERIOD OF OPERATION This agreement shall come into force from the first pay pe- riod commencing on or after the date of signing and shall remain in force until the 1st of November, 2002. 7.—CLASSIFICATION STRUCTURE & RATES OF PAY 1. All employees working under this agreement shall be paid according to the wage rates set out below. WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE 5053 80 W.A.I.G. 2. Wage Rates (per hour at ordinary time) Previous 1st 1st 1st EBA November November November Rate 1999 2000 2001 Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Rate Rate Rate Rate $ $ $ $ Labourer Group 1 17.82 18.71 19.65 20.63 Labourer Group 2 7.48 7.86 8.25 8.66 Labourer Group 3 9.81 10.29 10.81 11.35 Plasterer, Fixer 13.37 14.03 14.74 15.47 Year 1 15.69 16.46 17.29 18.15 Year 2 (1/3) 17.15 18.01 18.91 19.86 Year 3 (2/3) 16.56 17.39 18.26 19.17 Year 4 (3/3) 16.12 16.93 17.78 18.67 3. Site allowances relating to particular sites shall be paid in accordance with Appendix B of this Agreement. 4. An additional payment will be made to compensate for the impact of the Goods and Services Tax on the Consumer Price Index. In the circumstance that the CPI limit below is exceeded the appropriate additional payment will be made to the wage rates. The CPI figure for the applicable dates will be the official figure released by the ABS for the preceding year. 5. Site allowances relating to particular sites shall be paid in accordance with Appendix B of this Agreement. 6. An additional payment will be made to compensate for the impact of the Goods and Services Tax on the Consumer Price Index. In the circumstance that the CPI limit below is exceeded the appropriate additional payment will be made to the wage rates. The CPI figure for the applicable dates will be the official figure released by the ABS for the preceding year. Date CPI Limit Additional Payment June 2001 5% 1% (paid 1/9/2001) June 2001 6% 2% (paid 1/9/2001) June 2002 5% 1% (paid 1/9/2002) June 2002 6% 2% (paid 1/9/2002) 8.—INDUSTRY STANDARDS Redundancy The company shall increase redundancy contributions on behalf of each employee to the following sums on a weekly basis— Rate on signing $50 Rate as of 1/05/2001 $60 Superannuation (i) The Company will make a payment of $60 per week per employee or the percentage rate that is prescribed under the Superannuation Guarantee Charge, whichever is the greater. The Company will advise all employees subject to the Agree- ment of their right to have payments made to a complying superannuation fund of their choice. The Company is bound by the employee’s election. The aforementioned payment will then be made to that fund. Until each employee nominates the fund of their choice the Company will make payments into the Construction + Build- ing Unions Superannuation Scheme (the “C+BUSS”). In the event that any employee chooses a fund other than the C+BUSS the Company will, within seven days of the employee advising the Company of the fund of their choice, advise the Union in writing of the employee’s decision. In the event that the employee and the Company reach an agreement pursuant to section 49C(2)(d) of the Act to change the complying superannuation fund or scheme the Company will, within seven days of the employee and the Company reaching such an agreement, advise the Union in writing of the agreement. The employer shall not unreasonably refuse to agree to a change of complying superannuation fund or scheme requested by the employee. (ii) “Ordinary Time Earnings” (which for the purposes of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 will operate to provide a notional earnings base) shall mean the actual ordinary rate of pay the employee receives for ordinary hours of work including tool allowance, industry allowance, trade allowances, shift loading, special rates, qualification al- lowances (eg. first aid, laser safety officer), multi-storey allowance, site allowance, asbestos eradication allowance, lead- ing hand allowances, in charge of plant allowance and supervisory allowances where applicable. The term includes any regular over-award pay as well as casual rates received and any additional rates and allowances paid for work under- taken during ordinary hours of work, including fares and travel. 9.—SICK LEAVE For sick leave accrued after the date of signing this agree- ment the following will apply— (a) The Company’s employees shall have the option of converting 100% of accrued sick leave entitlement to a cash payment on termination (b) If an employee who has been terminated by the Com- pany without exercising the above option is re-engaged within a period of six months, the un- paid balance of sick leave shall continue from the date of re-engagement. (c) Where the Company has signed a previous Agree- ment with the Union that also allowed for the conversion to cash payment on termination for ac- crued sick leave, that accrued sick leave will be treated as if is accrued under this agreement. (d) Sick leave shall accrue, for the purposes of this clause, at the rate of one day at the beginning of each of the first ten calendar months of each year. 10.—NEGOTIATION OF A SUBSEQUENT AGREEMENT The parties agree to commence negotiations for a new collective agreement to succeed this agreement at least 3 months before the nominal expiry date. The parties intend to conclude these negotiations prior to the nominal expiry date. These negotiations shall be conducted on a collective basis between all of the parties with the negotiated outcome being subject to approval of a vote of the employees collectively. 11.—APPLICATION OF PROJECT AGREEMENTS 1. This agreement shall apply to all persons employed in the employer’s business and every part thereof throughout Western Australia until 1st November 2002 except where the company commences work on a project where a site agree- ment to which the union is a party exists that provides for higher rates of pay and conditions. 2. The conditions contained in any such site agreement will take precedence over this agreement for the duration of the project. 12.—FARES AND TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE In addition to Clause 12A of the award a travel payment shall be made in the form of a daily payment (on days worked) of $6.15 per day per employee. 13.—SENIORITY 1. The parties agree the continuity of employment is desir- able wherever possible, and that where it is not possible, employees will be retrenched in order of seniority. 2. When applying the “first on last off” principle it is agreed subject to the caveat of “all things being equal”, it is intended to apply on a Company basis rather than a site by site basis. 3. It is recognised that from time to time instances may arise where the employee’s individual skills may be subject to this caveat. Where there is any disagreement as to the application of this the matter will be processed in accordance with Clause 16—Dispute Settlement Procedure. 4. An employee who has been retrenched by the Company shall have absolute preference and priority for re-employment/ re-engagement by the Company. Where an employee is re- engaged within a period of six months the employee shall maintain continuity of service and all accrued entitlements with the Company. 14.—ALL IN PAYMENTS 1. All-in payments to employees will not be made. All-in payments are defined as an hourly rate or piece work rate which is meant to cover wages and all allowances, such as annual leave, sick leave, etc., on which tax is being paid using the Prescribed Payments System. 2. It is agreed that where a breach of this clause is discov- ered, the employer shall continue paying the “all-in” rate as the employees hourly rate, but shall pay all award and other WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE 80 W.A.I.G. 5054 entitlements on top of this amount, back-dated to the com- mencement of the all-in rate arrangement. The company shall not be entitled to offset any amount in excess of the ordinary hourly rate against any other entitlement in this agreement. 3. This clause shall not be applied to prevent the employer subletting specialised work outside of the normal scope of work which the employer performs. The union shall be noti- fied when specialist sub-contractors are to be engaged. 15.—PYRAMID SUB-CONTRACTING 1. “Pyramid Sub-Contracting” is defined as the practice of a sub-contractor, to whom a sub-contract is originally awarded, sub-letting that contract or part thereof to another sub-con- tractor. 2. Provided that where a sub-contractor does not have the technical capacity to handle a specialist section of the con- tract and intends to engage a specialist sub-contractor to perform that work, that section may be re-let to a specialist sub-contractor. 3. Further provided that when a sub-contract is let for la- bour and material, a labour-only sub-contract may be let by the sub-contractor, but it is unacceptable as a principle for further labour-only sub-contracts to be re-let. 4. A bona fide sub-contractor is generally an employer of labour, save for a machine owner-operator. 5. Where a disagreement arises in relation to the definition or application of the term “Pyramid Sub-Contracting” the parties shall discuss and determine the issue in accordance with the agreement dispute resolution procedure. In any event of a disagreement, the matter shall be negotiated further be- tween the parties or referred to the