Guidelines for the Agreed Process 1

Transcription

1 Guidelines for the Agreed Process for Conducting the Employee Ballot Proposed Victorian Catholic Education Multi Employer Agreement 2013 in Catholic Education Offices (CEO) The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) and the Independent Education Union Victoria Tasmania (IEU) have reached in-principle agreement on the proposed terms of a new enterprise agreement. The proposed agreement would apply to full-time, part-time, fixed-term, casual relieving, casual and emergency employees. In the Catholic Education Office (CEO) of each Diocese this means: Psychologists, Speech Pathologists, Education Officers, School Advisers, Placed Teachers, Visiting Teachers and Clerical Staff. To approve the proposed enterprise agreement, the Fair Work Act 2009 requires that: Employees who will be covered by the proposed enterprise agreement be provided with either a copy of the proposed enterprise agreement or ready access to the proposed enterprise agreement at least seven days prior to being asked to approve the proposed enterprise agreement. The CEO Directors provide an explanation of the terms of the agreement, and the effect of those terms, to the relevant employees. The CEO Directors give their employees the opportunity to vote for or against the agreement, and a majority of the employees who choose to vote cast a valid vote are in favour of approving the proposed enterprise agreement. An has been issued to all relevant full-time, part-time, fixed-term and casual relieving employees informing them of the approval process and providing the required information. However, the assistance of the CEO Directors is required in ensuring employees have access to the information. The CEO Directors are requested to contact any relevant employees on leave with pay and leave without pay, where this is reasonably possible, and inform them that the agreement information is available, how it may be accessed, and the date and time of the scheduled employee meeting to conduct the vote. If there are employees with disabilities or language difficulties that may make it difficult for them to have access to, or understand, the agreement information, the CEO Directors are requested to take appropriate steps to make the information accessible for these employees. The method of voting set out below has been agreed as the most appropriate process given the requirements of the Fair Work Act The CEO Directors are required to arrange for steps 1 5 to be conducted in their CEO. Guidelines for the Agreed Process 1

2 METHOD OF VOTING Step 1 INFORMATION PROVIDED TO EMPLOYEES Monday 21 October 2013 The CECV provides the proposed enterprise agreement information via to all relevant fulltime, part-time, fixed-term and casual relieving employees in Victorian Catholic schools and the Diocesan Catholic Education Offices (CEO). In the Catholic Education Office (CEO) of each Diocese: this means: Psychologists, Speech Pathologists, Education Officers, School Advisers, Placed Teachers, Visiting Teachers and Clerical staff. The CEO Directors are requested to: copy and distribute the employee information to any employee who may not reasonably have access to . contact any relevant employees on leave with pay and leave without pay (where this is reasonably possible), and inform them that the agreement information is available and how it may be accessed. determine a suitable date, time and place for the employee meeting between 29 October 2013 and 1 November If there are employees with disabilities or language difficulties that may make it difficult for them to have access to, or understand, the agreement information, the CEO Directors are requested to take appropriate steps to make the information accessible for these employees. Step 2 NOTICE OF EMPLOYEE MEETING Monday 21 October 2013 The CEO Directors should give notice of an employee meeting to all relevant employees in their Diocesan CEO to be held between Tuesday 29 October 2013 and Friday 1 November 2013 for the purpose of giving relevant employees the opportunity to vote to approve or not approve the agreement. The employee meeting should be scheduled at a time that provides employees with the maximum opportunity to attend. Diocesan regional offices can hold separate employee meetings but they must report a single tallied result in accordance with Step 5. The Notice of Employee Meeting template is available as Appendix A. The Notice of Employee Meeting must be completed and distributed to relevant employees on Monday 21 October The notice of the employee meeting will include: 1. Date (between Tuesday 29 October and Friday 1 November 2013) 2. Time (that maximises the opportunity for employees, including those on leave, to attend) 3. Place (convenient for the majority of employees) 4. Method of voting (as detailed in Appendix A Notice of Employee Meeting template) This notice should go to all relevant employees in the workplace including any relevant employees on leave with pay and leave without pay (where this is reasonably possible). It is important that the employee meeting be scheduled no earlier than Tuesday 29 October 2013 and no later than close of business on Friday 1 November Method of Voting 2

3 Step 3 THE EMPLOYEE MEETING AND VOTE Between Tuesday 29 October and Friday 1 November 2013 The employee meeting will be co-convened by the CEO Director and the union representative who must record the number of employees who attended the employee meeting. The CEO Director and the union representative can give an explanation of the agreement, the ongoing process of approval and answer any questions from employees. The following motion must then be put That the proposed Victorian Catholic Education Multi- Employer Agreement 2013 be approved. Employees in attendance at the meeting will vote by a show of hands in favour or against the motion. The CEO Director and the union representative must record the number of employees who vote in favour of the motion and the number of employees who vote against the motion. *Note that an employee can only vote in person and cannot vote by proxy or by mail. An employee who is unable to attend the scheduled employee meeting and who wishes to vote must arrange a suitable time with the CEO Director to cast his/her vote. The CEO Director must issue the employee with a ballot paper in accordance with Appendix B. The employee must complete the ballot paper and place it in a ballot box provided by the CEO Director between 29 October 2013 and 1 November 2013 and before the counting of the vote commences. The CEO Director should ensure that the employee is provided with the date and time the ballot will be counted (no later than 5pm 1 November 2013). The CEO Director should arrange for the ballot box to be kept in a secure location. Step 4 COUNTING THE VOTE Between Tuesday 29 October and Friday 1 November 2013 When all of the votes have been cast, including the show of hands at the employee meeting and the ballot paper of any employee who has arranged to submit a vote outside of the scheduled employee meeting time, the CEO Director and the union representative must count all of the votes and record a result on the Result of Voting on Victorian Catholic Education Multi Employer Agreement 2013 form (Appendix C). Diocesan Catholic Education Offices and regional offices can hold separate employee meetings but they must report a single tallied result. Step 5 NOTIFYING THE RESULT OF THE VOTE No later than 5 pm on Friday 1 November 2013 The CEO Director, in the presence of the union representative, must notify the result of the vote by sending a copy of the Result of Voting on Victorian Catholic Education Multi Employer Agreement 2013 form (Appendix C), no later than 5 pm on Friday 1 November 2013 to the CECV and the IEU. This step must be completed even where no employee attended the scheduled employee meeting and/or no votes were cast. Method of Voting 3

4 Send the form to the CECV and copy to the IEU via or fax: the CECV: a copy to info@ieuvictas.org.au OR Fax to the CECV on (03) Fax a copy to the IEU on (03) DO NOT POST THE FORM. The CEO Director is required to retain the original copy of the completed Result of Voting on Victorian Catholic Education Multi Employer Agreement 2013 form (Appendix C) until such time as the agreement is approved by the Fair Work Commission in the event that it may be required for verification purposes. Step 6 APPLICATION FOR FAIR WORK COMMISSION APPROVAL OF ENDORSED AGREEMENT Within 14 days of the closing of the ballot (i.e. no later than 14 November 2013) The CECV and the IEU will lodge the proposed enterprise agreement with the Fair Work Commission for approval covering each CEO Director and their employees where a vote was recorded in favour. Step 7 AGREEMENT TAKES EFFECT The agreement will take effect seven days after the Fair Work Commission approves the Agreement. Method of Voting 4

5 CHECKLIST CEO Director s Obligation Timeline Complete Ensure agreement information is forwarded to all employees to be covered. Copy and distribute the employee information to any employee who may not reasonably have access to Contact any relevant employees on leave with pay and leave without pay (where this is reasonably possible), and inform them that the agreement information is available, how it may be accessed. Distribute Notice of Employee Meeting to all relevant employees at the Office and employees on leave with or without pay Attend the employee meeting where those employees present vote to approve or not approve the proposed enterprise agreement. Monday 21 October 2013 Monday 21 October 2013 Between Tuesday 29 October and Friday 1 November 2013 The CEO Director and union representative count the vote Between Tuesday 29 October and Friday 1 November 2013 The CEO Director and union representative forward result of the vote to the Industrial Relations (IR) Unit at the Catholic Education Office Melbourne No later than 5 pm on Friday 1 November 2013 Checklist 5

6 Further Information regarding role of the CEO Director and Union Representative The role of the CEO Director and the union representative is to facilitate both the provision of information and the conduct of the ballot. The role of the CEO Director comprises: ensuring employees are informed that the agreement information is available and how it can be accessed scheduling an employee meeting for the purpose of conducting the ballot (see Appendix A Notice of Employee Meeting template) notifying employees on leave (where this is reasonably possible) that the agreement information is available, how to access it and advising of the scheduled employee meeting taking steps to ensure that any employee with a disability or language difficulty that may make it difficult for them to have access to, or understand the information, is accommodated preparing the ballot paper for employees who cannot attend the meeting (see Appendix B Ballot Paper template) providing a ballot box for the ballot papers of employees who cannot attend the meeting. The roles of the CEO Director and the union representative comprise: co-convening the scheduled employee meeting for the conduct of the ballot overseeing the voting process including where employees who cannot attend the scheduled employee meeting wish to vote ensuring the safe custody of any ballot box between the commencement of voting and the count of the vote counting the vote and notifying the result any time from 29 October 2013 to 5 pm on 1 November 2013 destroying individual ballot papers after the CEO Director and the union representative have completed the Result of Voting on Victorian Catholic Education Multi Employer Agreement 2013 form (see Appendix C) and after the CECV Industrial Relations (IR) Unit has been notified of the result. *Where there is no union representative at a school, the CEO Director should contact either the IR Unit on (03) , or the IEU on (03) or toll free on , so that union representation can be arranged. Role of the Employer and the Union Representative 6

7 APPENDIX A THE CEO DIRECTOR MUST REPLACE RED TEXT WITH RELEVANT DETAILS AND DISTRIBUTE ON 21 OCTOBER 2013 NOTICE OF MEETING Placed Teachers and Visiting Teachers Psychologists Speech Pathologists Education Officers School Advisers CEO Clerical Staff at [Insert Diocesan Catholic Education Office/Regional Office name] TO CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING MOTION: That the proposed Victorian Catholic Education Multi Employer Agreement 2013 be approved Date: [insert a date between Tuesday 29 October 2013 and Friday 1 November 2013] Time: [insert a time that maximises employee opportunity to attend] Place: [insert a location convenient to the majority of employees] Voting Method: Employees in attendance at the meeting will vote by a show of hands in favour or against the motion. Q How can I vote if I cannot attend the meeting? An employee who is unable to attend the scheduled employee meeting and who wishes to vote must arrange a suitable time with the CEO Director to cast a vote between Tuesday 29 October 2013 and Friday 1 November The CEO Director must issue the employee with a ballot paper. The employee must complete the ballot paper and place it in a ballot box provided by the CEO Director before the counting of the vote commences. An employee can only vote in person and cannot vote by proxy or by mail. Appendix A Notice of Employee Meeting 7

8 APPENDIX B THE CEO DIRECTOR MUST COPY AND ISSUE TO EMPLOYEES SEEKING TO VOTE OUTSIDE OF THE MEETING VICTORIAN CATHOLIC EDUCATION MULTI EMPLOYER AGREEMENT 2013 BALLOT PAPER Please tick one box only 1. I APPROVE THE VICTORIAN CATHOLIC EDUCATION MULTI EMPLOYER AGREEMENT I DO NOT APPROVE THE VICTORIAN CATHOLIC EDUCATION MULTI EMPLOYER AGREEMENT 2013 Attachment B Ballot Paper 8

9 APPENDIX C THE CEO DIRECTOR MUST COMPLETE AND RETURN THIS FORM BY 5 PM FRIDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2013 RESULT OF VOTING ON VICTORIAN CATHOLIC EDUCATION MULTI EMPLOYER AGREEMENT 2013 Please complete and retain a copy of this form until notified by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) that the agreement is approved by the Fair Work Commission in the event that it may be required for verification purposes. This form can be returned any time from Tuesday 29 October 2013 but no later than 5 pm on Friday 1 November Please return via: to the CECV: mea@cecv.catholic.edu.au a copy to info@ieuvictas.org.au OR Fax to the CECV on (03) Fax a copy to the IEU on (03) Diocesan Catholic Education Offices and regional offices can hold separate employee meetings but they must report a single tallied result. Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Total number of employees attending the meeting Total number of employees who voted at a time other than the scheduled employee meeting but before the count (i.e. ballot paper) Number of employees who voted to approve the agreement Number of employees who voted not to approve the agreement Signed (CEO DIRECTOR) Date / /2013 (UNION REPRESENTATIVE) Date / /2013 Attachment C Result of Voting Form 9