NHACE Updates Updates on the NHACE renewal process We will detail any important communications, FAQs, and updates here for the Neighbourhood Houses enterprise agreement renewal. If you have any questions, please see the recording of our info session or contact [email protected] Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and Jobs Australia (representing employers) and the Australian Services Union (ASU), the largest union in the sector representing employees, have reached agreement on an EBA to be recommended to the sector. View the proposed new agreement here. In reaching agreement, NHVic’s response to the union’s log of claims was formed in consultation with Employers who nominated to be part of our NHACE reference group. We thank them for their time and consideration in helping us craft an agreement that meets the needs of employers and employees. An email was sent to all members on 22 July 2024 with the draft agreement, and further instructions. If you have not received the email, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible. An information session for employers will be held on 25 July by Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and Jobs Australia, register here. Features of the new agreement Changes have been made to the agreement to make it more user friendly and compliant with changes in legislation and the National Employment Standard. Structure and referencing have been improved with the intent of making the agreement easier to reference and use. The agreement designates a 3% annual wage increase OR the outcome of the Fair Work Commission’s National Wage Review, whichever is greater. Other terms and conditions remain unchanged (unless updated by legislation), apart from the following: Three (3) days ex gratia annual leave to be taken at a time agreed between the employer and employee, for the life of this agreement. New Domestic and Family Violence Leave support provisions (no increase in leave entitlement), including the ability to take unpaid and/or personal leave for this reason. Ten (10) days gender affirmation leave entitlement for qualifying employees, as defined in section 42 of the proposed Agreement. A requirement for employers to consider reasonable ‘work from home’ requests, in consideration of the needs of the organisation. Union delegate training provisions, including five (5) days training leave for a union delegate to attend designated union training (NOTE only applies to employers with more than 10 employees). Provision to allow use of personal leave to care for unwell domestic pets. View the proposed new agreement here The process from here Employers first need to determine whether they will sign on to the new agreement. Typically, this will need to be a Committee of Management decision unless specific delegations are in place allowing the Manager to sign off. Once an employer has determined to sign on, an employee vote must be held. The method of voting is not specified in law: it can be via an in-person meeting and show of hands, online meeting, or hard copy or online ballot. A simple majority (50% + 1) of employees is required to adopt or reject the agreement. Employees must receive a copy of the agreement (‘access period’) at least seven calendar days before the vote, however we would recommend 14 days where possible to allow employees adequate time to review. You will need to inform NHVic (or Jobs Australia) via an online survey emailed to you on 22 July 2024. If you have not received this email, please contact [email protected]. We expect employers to begin opting in by 1 August and hope to begin receiving vote notifications from 15 August. Assuming positive notifications are received, we will close the survey and apply to the Fair Work Commission to authorise the agreement after 9 September. Note that once this process is completed, NHVic will apply to the Fair Work Commission to extinguish previous agreements, including 2010, 2016, and 2018. An information session for employers will be held on 25 July by Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and Jobs Australia, register here. If you have any questions or information you would like to have covered in the agreement, please contact [email protected]. Info session recordings You can see the recording of our information sessions here: NHACE Info Session (1 May 2023) NHACE Update Info Session (13 July 2023) NHACE Info Session (25 July 2024) What does the process look like? Please note, this is only a guideline of the sequence of events. Dates are provided where possible, and will be updated as we move through the process. Notification of intention to bargain: Completed 1 May NERR issued to Houses: Completed 2 May Houses issue NERR to employees: To be completed by 15 May Negotiation process: Completed Agreement reached Houses to sign on to agreement: By 14 August Agreement lodged with Fair Work: After 9 September Frequently Asked Questions Is Jobs Australia involved in the process?Yes. Neighbourhood Houses Victoria have already met with Jobs Australia to discuss their role in proceedings and we are communicating regularly with them throughout the process. Our employees are currently on an Award – does this apply to me? The Committee should assess the appropriateness of the new agreement and decide whether to adopt it, depending on the needs of your organisation and employees. If we are currently on the 2010, 2016 or 2018 agreement and we choose not to sign on to this agreement, what happens? If the 2016 Agreement is terminated by Fair Work and you haven’t signed on to the 2024 Agreement, you will revert back to the award as a minimum standard. However, employees then have the ability to apply to Fair Work to compel the Employer to adopt the agreement. There is an added complication to this approach: if you have some employees who started under the agreement and others under the award, it will make long service leave entitlement difficult to record and accrue for as some employees will receive the award entitlement (which is lower) while others will have at least part of their LSL benefit that accrued under the Agreement entitlement, which is a higher rate. Has there been any indication that our service agreement with DFFH will be adapted to the financial impact of the agreement? There is unfortunately no requirement for DFFH to cover the additional benefits. They are aware of the proposed agreement and we are keeping them updated, noting that for most Neighbourhood Houses the NHCP is a fraction of their overall funding.Do we need a majority vote of employees to adopt the Agreement? What if some employees vote for it and some don't?A majority vote (50% +1) of employees is required for the agreement to be adopted. If a majority vote passes, all employees will be placed under the agreement. If we don't sign on by 14 August, when is the latest we can sign on?If you don’t sign on before we send to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), you will have an opportunity to apply to FWC for a variation once the agreement has been approved by them. Please note that 14 August is a rough estimate, based on our ideal dates to progress this application through FWC. We will keep you updated on the dates if they need to be extended. Are single staffed houses now able to be a part of this agreement?We are applying to have them included in this agreement where the employer has opted in. When does the access period start?The access period will begin when at least one employer has signed on to the agreement. We will notify you when the access period begins. How can I find the most recent version of the proposed agreement? This page will always be updated as soon as any minor changes have been made. Please keep in mind that the proposed benefits cannot be changed, but we may make small formatting and/or grammar corrections or add clarifying details to make the agreed upon terms clearer. Any further questions? Please email [email protected] and our team will assist you.