57—Amendment of section 140—Powers of officials of employee
associations
(1) Section
140(1)—delete ", if authorised to do so by an award or enterprise
agreement, enter an employer's premises at which one or more members of the
association are employed" and substitute:
enter any workplace at which 1 or more members of the association work
(2) Section
140(1)(a)—delete "premises" and substitute:
workplace
(3) Section 140(1)(b)
and (c)—delete paragraphs (b) and (c) and substitute:
(b)
inspect the work carried out at the workplace and note the conditions under
which the work is carried out; and
(c) if
specific complaints about non-compliance with this Act, an award or an
enterprise agreement have been made—interview any person who works at
the workplace about the complaints.
(4) Section
140—after subsection (1) insert:
(1a) The powers
conferred by subsection (1) may be exercised at a time when work is being
carried out at the workplace.
(5) Section
140(2)—delete "and comply with any other requirements imposed by the
award or enterprise agreement"
(6) Section
140—after subsection (2) insert:
(2a) For the purposes
of subsection (2)—
(a) the
notice must be given in writing; and
(b) a
period of 24 hours notice will be taken to be reasonable unless some other
period is reasonable in the circumstances of the particular case.
(2b) An official
exercising a power under subsection (1) must not interrupt the performance of
work at the workplace.
(7) Section
140(3)—after paragraph (a) insert:
(ab)
address offensive language to an employer or an employee; or
(8) Section
140(3)—after paragraph (b) insert:
(c) use
or threaten to use force in relation to an employer, an employee or any other
person.
(9) Section
140—after subsection (4) insert:
(5) Despite a
preceding subsection, an official of an association may not enter a workplace
under this section if—
(a) no
more than 20 employees are employed at the workplace; and
(b) the
employer—
(i)
is a member of the Christian fellowship known as Brethren
; and
(ii)
holds a certificate of conscientious objection under
section 118 that has been endorsed in a manner that indicates that each
employee employed at the workplace agrees to the exclusion of this section;
and
(c) no
employee employed at the workplace is a member of an association registered
under this Act.