PIAA wins 'major victory' at Fair Work Commission

Printing Industries says it has secured 'a major victory for employers' at the Fair Work Commission by defeating an AMWU application that sought to vary the Graphic Arts Printing and Publishing Award 2010.

The variance was to provide time-off in lieu of overtime at the overtime rate rather than the current time-for-time rate. The application was heard as part of the ongoing Four Year Award Review of all modern awards at the Fair Work Commission.

It also sought to allow an employee to subsequently change his or her mind and elect to be paid overtime instead, even after agreeing to take Time Off in Lieu (TOIL).

Printing Industries General Manager, Workplace Relations and Legal Services (WRLS), Charles Watson, said the AMWU also sought to impose restrictions around when the employer and employee must agree that TOIL be taken, a move that would have further increased the regulatory burden on employers by insisting that TOIL be recorded on an employee’s payslip.

Watson said the Commission held that the ‘time for penalty rate’ aspect of the claim was inconsistent with the 1994 Family Leave Test Case decisions and that the AMWU had not mounted a persuasive case to depart from that standard.

“Printing Industries advocacy was integral to the outcome through both cross-examination of the AMWU’s witness and convincing the Full Bench members of the AMWU’s inconsistent argument that should not lead it to alter the status quo,” he said. “The Full Bench agreed. This was one of those instances where the appropriate outcome could only be that the status quo remained.”

Watson commended his WRLS team for their work. “Michelle Blewett from our Sydney office, was the lead advocate for us in this matter. Her cross-examination of the AMWU’s witness illuminated inconsistencies in the AMWU’s overall evidence, and this was persuasive to the Full Bench. Additionally, Mary Jo Fisher from our Adelaide office worked tirelessly in adducing and compiling evidence for Printing Industries’ case and drew upon her strategic expertise enhancing our arguments.

“This win gives our member companies a way to provide flexibility for their employees, manage workflow, and reduce their overheads."