An overview of legal procedure & case law
An employer cannot request that a vote to approve a proposed enterprise agreement be held until at 21 clear days after the day on which the last notice of employee representational rights (in relation to the proposed enterprise agreement) was given.[1]
Note: See above the separate requirements for commencing an access period before the employer requests that employees vote on the proposed agreement.
If the employer gave the last notice of employee representational rights on Wednesday, 3 February 2016, the employer cannot request that employees vote to approve the proposed agreement until at least Thursday, 25 February 2015.
Simply, when calculating 21 days, the day on which you gave the last notice of employee representational rights is not included – it is 21 days after that day.
The 7-day access period can run concurrently with the 21-day period (between the day the last notice of employee representational rights was given and the vote for approval).
The shortest period between the day on which an employer gives the last notice of employee representational rights to its employees and the day that the employer requests the employees to vote on the agreement is 21 days.[2]
[1] Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union and Ors v CBI Constructors Pty Ltd [2018] FWCFB 2732 (Hatcher VP, Dean DP, Hunt C, 21 June 2018) at para. 39.
[2] Explanatory Memorandum to Fair Work Bill 2008 at para. 737.