Commonwealth Repealed Acts

This legislation has been repealed.

WORKPLACE RELATIONS ACT 1996 - SECT 421

What is pattern bargaining?

             (1)  For the purposes of this Part, a course of conduct by a person is pattern bargaining if:

                     (a)  the person is a negotiating party to 2 or more proposed collective agreements; and

                     (b)  the course of conduct involves seeking common wages or conditions of employment for 2 or more of those proposed collective agreements; and

                     (c)  the course of conduct extends beyond a single business.

Exception: terms or conditions determined as national standards

             (2)  The course of conduct is not pattern bargaining to the extent that the negotiating party is seeking, for 2 or more of the proposed collective agreements, terms or conditions of employment determined by the Full Bench in a decision establishing national standards.

Exception: genuinely trying to reach an agreement for a single business or part of a single business

             (3)  The course of conduct, to the extent that it relates to a particular single business or part of a single business, is not pattern bargaining if the negotiating party is genuinely trying to reach an agreement for the business or part.

             (4)  For the purposes of subsection (3), factors relevant to working out whether the negotiating party is genuinely trying to reach an agreement for a single business or part of a single business include (but are not limited to) the following:

                     (a)  demonstrating a preparedness to negotiate an agreement which takes into account the individual circumstances of the business or part;

                     (b)  demonstrating a preparedness to negotiate a workplace agreement with a nominal expiry date which takes into account the individual circumstances of the business or part;

                     (c)  negotiating in a manner consistent with wages and conditions of employment being determined as far as possible by agreement between the employer and its employees at the level of the single business or part;

                     (d)  agreeing to meet face‑to‑face at reasonable times proposed by another negotiating party;

                     (e)  considering and responding to proposals made by another negotiating party within a reasonable time;

                      (f)  not capriciously adding or withdrawing items for bargaining.

             (5)  Whenever a person seeks to rely on subsection (3), the person has the burden of proving that subsection (3) applies.

             (6)  This section does not affect, and is not affected by, the meaning of the term "genuinely trying to reach an agreement", or any variant of the term, as used elsewhere in this Act.