See Fair Work Act s.459(1)
In order for employee claim action[1] to be authorised and protected it must commence:
Once commenced, the form of protected industrial action taken can continue beyond the 30 day period provided it is in line with the ballot endorsed action.[2]
There is no requirement that the specific instances of protected industrial action specified in the notice given to the employer under s.414 of the Fair Work Act are commenced within the 30 day period. It is sufficient that the genus of industrial action commences within the 30 day period.[3]
The 30 day period is a time limit for commencement of industrial action, not a time limit for completion of industrial action. The purpose of the time limit is to ensure that the employees are voting upon a real proposal based upon relatively contemporaneous circumstances. A commitment to relatively prompt action is involved, rather than simply giving an authority which can be held up the sleeve of those negotiating for the employees.[4]
See Fair Work Act s.459(1)(d)(ii) and s.459(3).
The Commission may extend the period for the commencement of protected industrial action by up to 30 days if an applicant for the protected action ballot order makes an application to the Commission, and the period has not previously been extended.
The period may be extended after the initial 30 day period has expired, including pursuant to an application made after the expiry of the initial 30 day period.[5]
See Fair Work Act s.417
Industrial action must not be organised or engaged in before the nominal expiry date of a current enterprise agreement (the existing agreement) or workplace determination has passed.
This requirement applies to
Note: This is a civil remedy provision.
If a protected action ballot is conducted before the nominal expiry date of an existing agreement, it is unlawful to organise or take industrial action pursuant to the ballot before that nominal expiry date. If industrial action is taken before the nominal expiry date, even if that action was approved by the protected action ballot, the industrial action will be unprotected.[6]
The Federal Court or Federal Circuit Court may grant an injunction or make any other order the Court considers appropriate to stop or remedy the effects of a breach of s.417 on application by:
Protected industrial action cannot be taken until after the employer agrees to bargain, initiates bargaining, or is required to bargain by the issue of a relevant majority support determination or scope order (the notification time).[7]
This includes where the scope of the proposed single-enterprise agreement is the only matter in dispute.[8]
A notification time for a proposed multi-enterprise agreement cannot be used as a notification time for a proposed single-enterprise agreement.[9]
[1] Fair Work Act s.409(2).
[2] Maritime Union of Australia v DP World Adelaide Pty Ltd [2010] FWA 7638 (Hampton C, 1 October 2010) at para. 31.
[3] RMIT University v National Tertiary Education Industry Union [2009] FWA 1183 (Kaufman SDP, 23 November 2009) at para. 22.
[4] United Colleries Pty Ltd v Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (2006) FCA 904 (14 July 2006) at para. 21.
[5] EnergyAustralia Yallourn Pty Ltd v Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union [2013] FWCFB 2022 (Lawler VP, Sams DP, Lewin C, 4 April 2013) at para. 27, [(2013) 231 IR 254].
[6] Explanatory Memorandum to Fair Work Bill 2008 at para. 1763.
[7] Fair Work Act ss.173(2), 437(2A); Maritime Union of Australia, The v Maersk Crewing Australia Pty Ltd [2016] FWCFB 1894 (Ross J, Watson VP, Gostencnik DP, 31 March 2016) at para. 33.
[8] See note in Fair Work Act s.437(2A); Swinburne University of Technology v National Tertiary Education Industry Union [2016] FWCFB 6838 (Hatcher VP, Lawrence DP, McKenna C, 27 September 2016) at para. 30.
[9] Swinburne University of Technology v National Tertiary Education Industry Union [2016] FWCFB 6838 (Hatcher VP, Lawrence DP, McKenna C, 27 September 2016) at para. 37.