Big W`s old enterprise contract was launched in 2012 and expired in 2015. “More than 90% of the electorate supported the proposal, and we look forward to quickly offering our members the benefits of the new agreement.” The proposed agreement will not have any lags that, until now, allowed two teams to work in one day with less than ten hours break between stations. Now there must be a 12-hour break (or 10 hours by appointment) between the conclusion of a position and the start of the next position. This means that, in some stores, the current practice of using splitting layers is no longer permitted. Gerard Boyce, vice-president of the FWC, gave the green light to the agreement, which will also offer annual wage increases to Big W employees, better penalty interest, home and family vacations and an entrenched occasional conversion clause. The Big W agreement allows employees to designate each fund of their choice. Athena Koelmeyer, an expert on labour law and director of Workplace Law, said the Commission had made it clear that agreements that require the election of superfunds would not happen. Mr Cullinan is still opposed to the current agreement, but says the union`s issues expressed in April have not been resolved because of a employment security clause. The Commission rejected Kmart`s decision and stated that, overall, staff would be in a less favourable position, not least because the super-contributions were to be paid into REST, a fund supported by the SDA retail union, which was negotiating the agreements with Kmart and Big W.M. Boyce gave no reason to accept Big W`s approval and stated that he would publish his argument “in due course”. The agreement will enter into force seven days after approval and will have a nominal expiry date of May 5, 2022. The kmart agreement, which the Commission rejected earlier this month, stated that employees had to transfer their superannuation payments to REST. Kmart`s decision prompted large companies to reconsider how they will approach standard superannuation in enterprise agreements, while the government has announced that it will re-examine the problem.
A Big W spokesperson said the company was pleased that the FWC had accepted the agreement and said it “presented improved conditions for our team while supporting the continued rotation of our business.”