Unauthorised contact about pre-2010 agreements

We have been made aware of agents who are making unauthorised contact with businesses about Zombie agreements. If you have been contacted, you should be aware of the following:

• The term ‘zombie agreement’ is used to describe an agreement made before 1 January 2010 that still operates, that is, one or more employees are still covered by the agreement.
• Most pre-2010 agreements no longer cover anyone and so have ceased to operate.
  • For example, many pre-2010 agreements have been replaced by new enterprise agreements; only covered employers, projects or worksites that no longer exist; only covered named employees who are no longer employed by the employer; or have been terminated by the parties or by the Commission. These are not ‘zombie agreements’ and no action is required.
• The List of pre-2010 agreements (possible ‘zombie agreements’)  published on our website includes both:
  • pre-2010 agreements that have already ceased to operate because they have been replaced by an enterprise agreement or no longer cover any employees (and so are not ‘zombie agreements’), and
  • pre-2010 agreements that are still in operation (and so are ‘zombie agreements’).
• If you are an employer and you see an agreement on our list that has been wholly replaced or has otherwise ceased to cover anyone, you don’t have to do anything.
• If you still have employees covered by a pre-2010 agreement, you need to let those employees know, in writing, that the agreement will automatically terminate (or ‘sunset’) on 7 December 2023. The written notice needs to be provided before 7 June 2023 – see What to do if you have a pre-2010 agreement 
• If you do not want your agreement to terminate, you must apply to the Commission for an extension but you must still notify your employees about the sunsetting – see Extending the default period for a pre-2010 agreement  
• Penalties only apply to employers who have employees covered by a zombie agreement and who do not notify their employees that the agreement will terminate.
• For more information please see Sunsetting of zombie agreements.