NTPS Bargaining Policy 2021 - 2024

1. Purpose

The purpose of the Northern Territory Public Sector (NTPS) Enterprise Bargaining Policy 2021 - 2024 PDF (70.8 KB) (‘the policy’) is to establish the Northern Territory Government’s (‘the Government’) bargaining framework for enterprise agreements in the NTPS* and consent agreements under Part III of the Police Administration Act 1978.

2. Objectives

The objectives of the policy are to:

(a) support collective bargaining with unions and industrial strategic measures in line with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (‘the FW Act’).

(b) ensure costs arising from bargaining outcomes are maintained within the Government’s fiscal parameters.

(d) maintain fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment.

3. Application of the policy

The policy applies to:

(a) all NTPS employees within the meaning of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 1993 (excluding executive contract officers), and

(b) all members of the Northern Territory Police Force below the rank of Commander.

In this policy, enterprise agreements made under the FW Act and consent agreements made under the Police Administration Act 1978 are collectively referred to as ‘agreements’.

4. Bargaining principles

(a) Bargaining will be conducted in ‘good faith’ in line with the FW Act.

(b) Collective bargaining with the union(s) representing employees is the preferred mode of bargaining in the NTPS.

(c) The Commissioner for Public Employment and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) will engage union representatives and NTPS employees productively and positively during the bargaining process and will be open and transparent about their bargaining position.

(d) Formal offers for new agreements should be made prior to the agreements nominal expiry date unless otherwise agreed.

(e) Unions will be encouraged to submit their claims on (or before) the commencement of bargaining.

(f) Agreement outcomes will provide the following:

i. for agreements finalised on or after 5 October 2022, 2% per annum increases in wages and allowances from the date of the nominal expiry of the previous agreement once approved by the Fair Work Commission

ii. for the NTPS General and Jacana Agreements finalised and approved prior to 5 October 2022:

A. 2% or $2000 per annum wage increases, whichever is greater for the remaining years of the agreement

B. 2% per annum increases in allowances for the remaining years of the Agreement

iii. opportunities for improvements in conditions, wages or allowances where offsets are identified and agreed

iv. all conditions and rights to be contained in the agreement where possible

v. provide for a common core of NTPS conditions of employment (e.g. leave, superannuation, redundancy, hours of work, change management provisions) across the service, where possible, and

vi. emphasise flexibility in employment arrangements that benefit both the employer and the employee.

(g) There is a commitment to work with unions and CEOs to promote access to flexible working arrangements, domestic, family and sexual violence leave and foster and kinship carer leave. Such provisions will help employees to balance their personal lives with their work responsibilities.

(h) Offers for new agreements apply to employees who are employed at the time an agreement commences operation in accordance with s54(1) of the FW Act.

(i) To achieve certainty, agreements will be longer than two years and ideally for as long as allowed under the FW Act (that is four years).

5. No extra claims provision

All wages, conditions and efficiency measures will be settled in the bargaining process and, where appropriate, reflected in the enterprise agreement. All agreements must contain a ‘no extra claims’ clause where the parties agree that they will not make any extra claims in relation to the employee terms and conditions of employment in operation for the period of the Agreement.

* For the purposes of this Policy, the NT Public Sector includes the Power and Water Corporation, Territory Generation and Jacana Energy.

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