If you are having a problem understanding which award your drivers are on or what the current changes are, don’t despair – you are not alone. Recent activities by the TWU have now stalled the most recent update of the Road Transport and Distribution Award.
Due to the Union’s late appeal to “Stay the Determination”, the changes that were made during the mandatory ‘Two Yearly Review’ and brought in on 7 January have ceased to be valid from 16 January. Those changes included the contentious mandating that any breaks taken during overtime shall be paid at ordinary rates.
The TWU is now appealing this change, believing rest breaks during overtime should be calculated at overtime rates.
An application for permission to appeal and appeal from that decision was filed by the TWU on January 6 (designated Matter No C2014/2553), and has been listed for hearing before a Full Bench on 21 February.
A Stay of the Deternination was not sought in that application as there was, at that stage, no operative order to stay. However, after Her Honour Senior Deputy President AM Harrison published the final form of the post review RT&D Award on 7 January (the Determination), the TWU provided an Amended Application for Permission to Appeal and appealed to Stay the Determination.
To break this down, Fair Work Australia ignored the initial request by the TWU and changed the rules and then the TWU changed its Appeal so that it would halt the new rules.
The TWU in its submission claimed, “Her Honour’s construction of the rate payable during the paid break contemplated by clause 26.2 of the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2010 was in error and was inconsistent with the decision of the Full Bench in Transport Workers’ Union of Australia v Linfox Australia Pty Ltd [2012] FWAFB 8958.”
Other changes to the Modern Award that the review originally determined include the inclusion of an insertion of a definition of base rate, the insertion of definition of ‘fatigue management’ rules/regulations, the insertion of a new min hourly rate table; as well as an explanation of how allowances are paid to casuals and part-time staff – allowing RDOs to be paid out as agreed and a clause ensuring that ‘day workers’ are not included in the shift definition.