Union Right of Entry & Delegates' Rights Toolkit

With recent legislation updates, unions and workplace delegates have new rights when it comes to entering and engaging within your workplace. To be prepared and to be able to respond in an industrially appropriate, lawful and considered manner, you can use this toolkit to ensure all your sites are using the same approach and are clear on what they can and can't do.

The toolkit has been prepared for employers and is in two booklets for ease of reference;

• Book 1 Union Right of Entry
• Book 2 Delegates' Rights

Employers now face liabilities under the General Protections provisions of the FW Act if you unreasonably refuse to deal with delegates, mislead them or hinder or obstruct the exercise of their rights. If you have multiple sites, this toolkit can provide a singular action plan for your business.

Right of Entry legislation now includes the abililty for organisers to apply to the Fair Work Commission to obtain 'exemption certificates'. These permit the organisers to enter a workplace to investigate suspected contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) without advance notice. The new legislation also allows an organiser to enter a workplace without an entry permit if they assisting a Health and Safety Representative (HSR) on request. 

If this happened at your workplace, do your managers know how to behave, what they need to give access to and what they can respectfully decline?

The toolkit will help you:

• educate your team on the rights of unions to enter your premises and when you can refuse
• understand the new delegates' rights term in modern awards
• ensure delegates and eligible employees are aware of the conditions and limitations 
• provide practical tips, examples and checklists you can use.

The toolkit can be used as a quick checklist for your managers to know how to handle a visit from a union. 

The purpose of the toolkit is to provide your organisation with an understanding of the current legislation in relation to:

• when a union organiser is able to enter your site and the obligations on both the organiser and you whilst the organiser is on the site;
• your right (as an employer) to go about your business without undue inconvenience if a union organiser seeks to exercise their right of entry;
• the rights of union delegates in the workplace as well as their obligations; and
• the protections afforded to union delegates under the new legislative regime; as well as
• practical steps and actions that you can utilise to assist your business in dealing with the above matters that may arise from time-to-time.

Each book contains material that you can utilise to manage and deal with both unions and delegates in the
workplace:

• a sample right of entry permit that is required where a union organiser seeks to exercise right of entry(unless the organiser is assisting a HSR);
• links to find whether a union organiser currently holds an entry permit or not;
• a step-by-step instruction guide and checklist on the process to be adopted if a union organiser wishes to enter an employer’s site as well as how to manage and deal with workplace delegates;
• user-friendly delegates’ rights checklists to confirm what delegates are entitled to do in the workplace and, conversely, what they are not entitled to do; and
• answers to frequently asked questions in relation to right of entry and workplace delegates.

This toolkit is intended to assist your organisation in navigating the legislation and offers practical advice
for complying with new obligations in simple, plain language.