Analysis of an Enterprise Agreement in the Retail Industry

This report examines enterprise agreements within the Australian retail industry, specifically focusing on the example of Big W. It provides an overview of enterprise agreements as defined by the Fair Work Commission, highlighting their role in setting employment terms and conditions through collective bargaining. The report discusses the key features of the Big W enterprise agreement, including its wage increments and approval process, while also acknowledging identified errors related to overtime and annual leave provisions. The analysis contextualizes the agreement within the broader framework of the National Retail Association and the Fair Work Commission, emphasizing the importance of informed employee participation and adherence to prescribed terms. Overall, the report aims to provide insights into the practical application and implications of enterprise agreements in the retail sector.

RUNNING HEAD: ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 0
Enterprise Agreement
Student’s Details-
OCTOBER 2, 2019

ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 1
Enterprise Agreement in Retail
Enterprise agreements are made in the workplaces containing the terms and conditions of
employment. This usually takes place between the employer and the employee. By making the
research about the retail topic, it is being found out that Big W which is the discount store under
Woolworths has introduced staff members of 16000 across Australia (Blake , 2019). The
creation date was 2012 and the expiring date was 2015. The agreement included the above award
wages and also a condition of making increments into the wage rates. Also, the agreement took
seven days for approval having expiry date of 2022. Also, Big W have used an agreement that
was focusing on the improved working conditions and also supporting the turnaround of the
concerning business.
Further, National Retail Association incorporated discussion regarding the learning of bargaining
and also taking informed positions of NRA under the Fair Work Compensation (FWC). The
application of retail enterprise agreement has some common errors as well which were marked
by Deputy President Masson of FWC (Enterprise Agreement, 2019). There was absence of terms
provided for payment of overtime by the employees. Also, an absence of provision for the
payment of annual leaves on termination. However, these discretional errors do not necessary
disadvantaged the employees and the employees accepted the terms of this agreement. Thus, this
enterprise agreement took place in the retailing industry with the purpose of proposing learning
and building insights of bargaining into the retailing sector under Fair Work Commission
(FWC). Thus, as per the enterprise agreement of National Retail Association, the agreement was
a best practice to keep the employees informed and also bound by some prescribed by some
terms and conditions which was held in Enterprise Agreement Stakeholder Panel meeting.

ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2
References
Blake , D., 2019. Big W enterprise agreement clears FWC. [Online]
Available at: https://www.insideretail.com.au/news/big-w-enterprise-agreement-clears-fwc-
201909
[Accessed 3 October 2019].
Enterprise Agreement, 2019. terprise Agreement Update. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nra.net.au/nra-legal/enterprise-agreement-update/
[Accessed 3 October 2019].