Rights & Responsibilities

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Transport Industry: Working Together

Building a Productive Workplace

All workplaces require motivated and productive employees to be competitive.  The following information covers the laws and legal obligations of employers and employees to develop better communication and working relationships.

Award Provisions

The Awards recognise and encourage good working relationships. They promote labour flexibility, increased productivity and enhancing career opportunities for employees.

Those involved in creating the Awards have also established a commitment to ensuring the transport industry experiences increased efficiency, productivity and competitiveness. These parties also support award modernisation in an effort to achieve more flexible working conditions, skill development and increased job satisfaction for employees in the industry.

Flexible Work Practices

Both employers and employees can benefit from a range of flexible workplace arrangements and policies that contribute to increased productivity and efficiency.

For instance, the Awards allow an employee to take time off in-lieu of receiving pay for overtime.  The employer must agree to this arrangement before it can occur. 

The time off is taken at the ordinary rate, that is, one hour off for each hour of overtime worked.  Proper written records of these arrangements should be kept.

Membership of Industrial Organisations

Employees and employers are free to join a trade union or employer association.  The Industrial Relations Act 1996 encourages participation in industrial relations by representative bodies of employees and employers and encourages responsible management and democratic control of those bodies.

The relevant industrial bodies are listed can be found here.

Employee Representatives and Union Business

The employer is required to recognise any person appointed by the majority of employees as an employee representative. An arrangement should be available for union notices.

Grievance and Dispute Procedures

A grievance is a formal expression of dissatisfaction about a work situation usually by an individual employee. It may sometimes also be initiated by a group of employees or a union acting on their behalf. Clause 24 of the Transport Industry (State) Award and Clause 50 of the Transport Industry – Mixed Enterprises (State) Award set out steps for handling individual grievances and disputes.

The intention of the dispute resolution process is to deal with the grievances as close to the source as possible and with minimal disruption to the operation of the business.