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Agreements

This document will assist you to create an Independent Contractor Agreement . The Independent Contractor Agreement provided can be used when your Company wishes to engage the services of a corporate contractor who will engage an individual person to perform the contract services.

The Independent Contractor Agreement includes coverage of the following matters: commentary and instructions on using the Independent Contractor Agreement; company and contractor details; general details; equipment details; description of service; provision of services; operative provisions; commencement, duration and option to renew; obligations of the contractor; contract fees and expenses; taxation; other contract work; termination; confidentiality; insurances; indemnity; and dispute resolution.

The Independent Contractor Agreement does not include restraint of trade or intellectual property/moral rights clauses. This means that the Contractor and the Representative can carry on a business in competition with you, solicit your employees and solicit your customers or clients after the Agreement has ended. Furthermore, there are no intellectual property protections within the Agreement. If you wish to include these provisions in the Agreement or gain a greater understanding of the impact of not including such provisions, it is important to obtain specific legal advice.

The Government has introduced changes to the Workplace Relations Act (the Act) to remove the ability of employers to use Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). Until 31 December 2009, ITEAs will replace AWAs subject to certain conditions. As with an AWA, an ITEA must be lodged with Workplace Authority.

You should read all of this important notice before deciding if this Workplace Agreement is appropriate for your business.

This Workplace Agreement has been specifically designed for employees who perform work covered by the Notional Agreement Preserving the NSW Transport Industry (State) Award, or the Notional Agreement Preserving the NSW Transport Industry - Mixed Enterprises (State) Award. This Workplace Agreement should not be used for any other type of employee. Employers who do not employ persons covered by either of the above awards should not use this Workplace Agreement. If you are unsure about whether or not your employees are covered by the above awards obtain professional advice. Further, this Workplace Agreement is not suitable for persons employed as mobile crane drivers, ancillary plant drivers, mobile concrete pump drivers or chauffeurs.

Employees who perform work covered by either of the above awards are also covered by the NSW Transport Industry - Mutual Responsibility for Road Transport (State) Award (the "Mutual Responsibility Award"). This award was made by the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW in November 2006.

The Mutual Responsibility Award will have no application to employees covered by this Workplace Agreement.

The Mutual Responsibility Award imposes driver fatigue management obligations on all employers, operating wholly or partly within NSW, that engage an employee to cart freight by road. The driver fatigue management obligations are aimed at protecting the health and safety of employees. Specifically, the Mutual Responsibility Award imposes the following fatigue management obligations on employers:

• Safe Driving Plans - An employer must prepare a Safe Driving Plan for any "long distance work" regularly undertaken by any employee in a "heavy vehicle".
  
  Long distance work is defined in the Mutual Responsibility Award as any single journey or series of journeys in any one shift of more than 500 kilometres (including the distances travelled in the delivery of freight and travelling after the delivery of freight) carried out in a heavy vehicle. A Heavy Vehicle is defined as a motor vehicle with a GVM of over 4.5 tonnes.
  
  
• Bluecard Training - An employer must ensure that all employees, who cart freight by road, undertake safety awareness training aligned to the Transport Industry National Competency Standard TDT F1 2002 - "Follow occupational health and safety procedures". This safety awareness programme is referred to in the Mutual Responsibility Award as a "bluecard program". Under the terms of the Mutual Responsibility Award only a licensed "bluecard program" training provider can conduct the safety awareness training.
  
  
• Drug & Alcohol Policy/Training - An employer must ensure that it implements a written drug and alcohol policy for all employees who cart freight by road. Under the terms of the Mutual Responsibility Award the policy must be developed in conjunction with employees and with the Transport Workers' Union. Drivers must also be trained in the policy. The Mutual Responsibility Award provides that such training must be carried out in conjunction with a representative of the Transport Workers' Union.

Federal workplace relations legislation allows a corporation to enter into workplace agreements which override State awards. A federal workplace agreement can only override occupational health and safety provisions in a State award if the workplace agreement deals with the same subject matter as the State award. This Workplace Agreement, amongst other things, deals with the subject matter of Safe Driving Plans; safety awareness training; and drug and alcohol testing. Accordingly, this Workplace Agreement deals with the subject matter of the Mutual Responsibility Award and therefore operates to the exclusion of the Mutual Responsibility Award. This means that the Mutual Responsibility Award will have no application to employees covered by this Workplace Agreement.

Whilst this Workplace Agreement contains a drug and alcohol policy and requires an employer to provide training to employees about the policy, it does not require an employer to consult with the Transport Workers' Union in relation to the drug and alcohol policy. Nor is there any requirement under this Workplace Agreement for training in relation to the drug and alcohol policy to be carried out in conjunction with the Transport Workers' Union.

This Workplace Agreement also requires an employer to provide any employee with safety awareness training aligned to the Transport Industry National Competency Standard TDT F1 97B -"Follow Occupational Health and Safety Procedures". However, there is no need for the training to be provided by a licensed bluecard training provider. Rather, this Workplace Agreement provides that the training can be conducted by any organisation that is competent and skilled to provide the required training.

This Workplace Agreement preserves many of the entitlements available to employees under the Notional Agreement Preserving the NSW Transport Industry (State) Award, and the Notional Agreement Preserving the NSW Transport Industry - Mixed Enterprises (State) Award. For instances, it provides for overtime, penalty rates for working on public holidays, penalty rates for working on Saturdays and Sundays and shift allowances. The monetary allowances under the above awards, as they existed as at 27 March 2006, are also expressly incorporated into this Workplace Agreement. Employers will only need to pay a particular monetary allowance where the allowance is applicable to the specific work being carried out by an employee.

If you wish to make substantial changes to this Workplace Agreement it is recommended that professional advice be sought.

This Workplace Agreement complies with the federal WorkChoices legislation.

If, having considered the content of the "Important Notice" above, you consider this Workplace Agreement to be appropriate to your business please download the document and review the further important commentary about this Workplace Agreement therein. It is essential that you consider this further commentary before seeking to make the Workplace Agreement with your employees.

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