Step 6: Preparing for the vote

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Decide when and how you want employees to vote

When you think that a suitable agreement has been negotiated with your employees (or their bargaining representatives) and drafted, you may put the proposed agreement to a vote of your employees.

The date of the vote or the start of the voting period must commence at least 21 clear days after the date the last NERR was given to employees.

Put simply, when calculating 21 days, do not include the day on which you gave the last NERR — it is 21 clear days after that day. You can use our Date calculator to ensure you comply with timeframes. If in doubt, add an extra day or two, just to be safe.

21 day example

You cannot hold a vote for your agreement until at least 21 days after you provide your employees with the NERR.

For example, you provide your employees with the NERR on 28 May 2020. The first clear day after you provided your employees with the NERR is 29 May 2020, and the twenty-first day is 18 June 2020. This means that your employees cannot start voting until on or after 19 June 2020.

Method of voting

There are a number of ways in which a vote for a proposed agreement can take place. There is no mandatory method of conducting the vote – the method that you choose will depend on the size and operations of your business. Some common voting methods are written ballot, electronically or a show of hands.

It is important that you comply with the timeframes in the Act and give employees at least 7 days’ notice of the vote, including the method.

Find out more about voting methods in the enterprise agreements benchbook on our website.

Communicate details of the vote

Consider and record the date when the access period commences

The 7-day period ending immediately before the start of the voting process is known as the ‘access period’.

When you decide to hold the vote, you should determine when the access period will commence, so you can be ready to provide employees with the necessary information including details of the vote and a copy of the agreement for consideration prior to the vote.

The 7 day access period can run concurrently with the 21 day period (between the day the last NERR was given and voting commences) but must be 7 clear days.

Access period example

An employer gave the last NERR on Thursday, 6 February.

The employer cannot request that employees vote to approve the proposed agreement until on or after Friday, 28 February.

If the vote is held on 28 February, the access period must begin on 20 February.

For more information see section 181 of the Act.

Advise employees of the time, place and method of the vote by the start of the access period

By the start of the access period, you must take reasonable steps to notify your employees of:

the time and place at which the vote will occur, and
the voting method that will be used.

Important

It is important that you notify employees of the time, place and method of the vote by the start of the access period.

Failure to comply with these requirements may mean that the Commission is unable to approve your application.

Share the agreement and incorporated material with employees

Give employees who will be covered by the agreement a copy of, or access to, the proposed agreement and any other incorporated material by the start of the access period

During the access period, you must take all reasonable steps to ensure you:

give all employees a copy of the written text of the agreement and any other material incorporated by reference in the agreement, for example the Award, or
give all employees access to a copy of those materials throughout the entire access period for the agreement.

Record the steps that you take as you may need to provide evidence when you lodge your application.

Note that material can be incorporated into an agreement even if the agreement doesn’t expressly state that it has been incorporated. For example, if an agreement states that employees must comply with a workplace health and safety (WHS) policy, then that WHS policy may be incorporated even if it doesn’t expressly say that it is incorporated.

Important

It is important that you give employees a copy of the proposed agreement and any incorporated material during the access period or provide employees with access to the proposed agreement and any incorporated material throughout the access period. Incorporated material may include any Awards that are incorporated by reference.

Failure to comply with these requirements may mean that the Commission is unable to approve your application.

Record how and when you gave employees a copy of, or access to, the agreement and any incorporated material

It’s important to keep records of any communications between yourself and employees. Copies of emails, memos or material provided to employees during bargaining should be lodged as part of your application for approval.

Important

Use the Date calculator to check that your dates comply with the legislation.

back to Step 5: Explaining the agreement to employees

Back to the overview

on to Step 7: Conducting the vote

Updated time

Last updated

27 January 2021

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