Closing Loopholes: Changes to attendance at compulsory conciliation conferences
Jul 29, 2024Changes to attendance at compulsory conciliation conferences - Here's what you need to know!
As part of the Closing Loopholes Act 2023, from 15 December 2023 changes were made regarding who is required to attend a compulsory conciliation conference once a Protected Action Ballot Order (PABO) had been made.
Let’s break down a few key terms!
Conciliation Conference = provides an opportunity for parties to work with a Registrar to make a genuine effort to settle their dispute.
Protected Action Ballot Order (PABO) = secret ballots that give employees the chance to vote on whether or not they want to initiate protected industrial action.
Bargaining representatives = an employer, an employer organisation or a person who is nominated to negotiate on behalf of employees to be covered by the agreement.
What were the previous rules?
All employee bargaining representatives were required to attend a compulsory conciliation conference for an employee claim to be protected.
Key Changes from 15 December 2023
- Now, only bargaining representative/s who applied for the PABO must attend a compulsory conciliation conference.
- An employer organising or engaging in employer response action, and their bargaining representatives covered by the PABO, must attend the conciliation conference for subsequent employer response action to be protected.
Implications:
- Prevents unintended consequences of representative non-compliance jeopardising industrial action protection.
- Non-attendance by non-PABO applying representatives no longer risks action protection.
- Employees' PABO-applying representatives must attend for action protection.
- Employers and representatives must still participate for employer response action protection.
These amendments streamline conciliation processes, ensuring industrial action protection while clarifying attendance requirements.
If you have any questions regarding the changes above, please feel free to reach out to the Employii team via [email protected] or give us a call on 0401 510 559
Author: Jess Roughsedge (HR Officer)
