Water & Ports

YOUR EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

Details

Published on Wednesday, 21 May, 2008

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AT WORK

Everyone knows that it is important to understand your conditions of employment so that you understand your entitlements and obligations. Most people know about Awards and Enterprise Agreements. These are collective agreements that set minimum pay and conditions for all workers in a workplace or industry. They are the critical safety net underpinning the rights of Australian employees that the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation threatened to abolish.

Another crucial part of your employment conditions, which is often less well understood, is your contract of employment. Your contract of employment can contain rights and obligations for you as an employee in addition to your rights under an Award or Enterprise Agreement.

Your contract of employment is fundamental to your employment relationship and without a contract you are not an employee. A contract of employment may contain conditions of employment on matters not covered by the Award or Enterprise Agreement such as your place of work or hours of work for part time employees. A contract of employment may also contain conditions over and above your entitlements under an Award or Enterprise Agreement such as a higher rate of pay than the Award rate or company policies.

A contract of employment cannot contain conditions of employment that are less than the conditions required by an Award or Enterprise Agreement. Awards and Enterprise agreements set the minimum conditions that apply to a group of employees. The main difference between a contract of employment and an Australian Workplace Agreement was that under Workchoices AWAs allowed employers to cut pay and conditions below the minimum required in an Enterprise Agreement or Award. Also you are not prevented from entering a collective agreement if you are on a common law contract.

A contract of employment might not always look like a contract. Often your letter of appointment to a position will be your contract of employment. A verbal agreement or an exchange of emails or letters could also become your contract if they represent an agreement between you and your employer.

To be a valid contract you need to agree to the contract but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to sign it.  Your agreement to the contract may be implied if you act as if the contract applies to you. For example you can be taken to agree to the conditions of employment contained in your letter of offer just by turning up for work. That is why it is important to take action immediately if you don't like what your contract says.

Here are some important things to know about your contract of employment:

* Firstly, take a moment to read it carefully, make sure you understand what it says and that you are happy with the contract.

* If you don't understand it get in contact with your workplace delegate or the ASU Organising Members Information Centre to get some advice.

* Keep it! It is important to keep a copy of your contract in order to make sure your conditions are not undermined.

* If your employer offers you a new contract of employment DO NOT SIGN IT until you have contacted the union office to check that the changes are fair.