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AN120089 – Building and Construction Industry (State) Award

PART 4 - EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEES DUTIES, EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP AND RELATED ARRANGEMENTS 

12. EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE DUTIES

12.1 Work organisation

12.1.1 An employer may direct an employee to carry out such duties as are within the limits of the employees skill, competence and training consistent with the classification structure of this award provided that such duties are not designed to promote de- skilling.

12.1.2 Any direction issued by an employer shall be consistent with the employers responsibilities to provide a safe and healthy working environment.

12.2 Employer Records Section 129 of the Act which requires that an employer must ensure that certain records are kept in relation to employees of the employer shall be a term of this award.

12.3 Right of Entry See Part 7, Chapter 5 of the Act.

12.4 Protection of Employees

12.4.1 The employer shall provide Personal Protective Equipment in accordance with the relevant regulation for the protection of employees working on oxyacetylene welding or arc welding.

12.4.2 The employer shall provide gas masks for employees engaged upon work where gas
is present.

12.4.3 Employees employed on refractory brickwork shall be X-rayed, if they so require, at the employer's expense and in his time, once in each period of six months.

12.4.4 An employee shall not raise or lower a swinging scaffold (other than a bosun's chair) alone and an employer shall not require an employee to raise or lower a swinging scaffold alone.

12.4.5 An employee shall not be required to carry materials, the property of the employer, from job to job. This provision shall not apply where materials are carried to or from a job in a vehicle belonging to the employer.

12.4.6 The employer shall supply sufficient facilities for washing. Five minutes shall be allowed before lunch and before finishing time to enable employees to wash and put away gear. In the case where toxic substances, covered by 25.10 have been used the employee will be allowed ten minutes to wash when the toxic substance use is discontinued or before lunch and/or finishing time if the use continues up to that time.

12.4.7 No employee shall be required to use a paint brush exceeding centimetres in width or 227 grams in weight or a kalsomine brush exceeding 20.3 centimetres in width.

12.4.8 Hand protective paste Every employer of painter, signwriter, plasterer employees shall at the request of any such employee provide hand protective paste for the use of such employee.

NOTE: Regulations made under state legislation details the requirements for employers to provided for the Health Safety and Welfare of Employees at work. These regulations cover matters specific to the Building and Construction Industry. This includes matters such as:

12.4.9 Occupational Health and Safety for employees of labour hire employers

(i) For the purposes of this subclause, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) A "labour hire business" is a business (whether an organisation, business enterprise, company, partnership, co-operative, sole trader, family trust or unit trust, corporation and/or person) which has as its business function, or one of its business functions, to supply staff employed or engaged by it to another employer for the purpose of such staff performing work or services for that other employer.

(2) A "contract business" is a business (whether an organisation, business enterprise, company, partnership, co-operative, sole trader, family trust or unit trust, corporation and/or person) which is contracted by another employer to provide a specified service or services or to produce a specific outcome or result for that other employer which might otherwise have been carried out by that other employer’s own employees.

(ii) Any employer which engages a labour hire business and/or a contract business to perform work wholly or partially on the employer’s premises shall do the following (either directly, or through the agency of the labour hire or contract business):

(1) consult with employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business regarding the workplace occupational health and safety consultative arrangements;

(2) provide employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business with appropriate occupational health and safety induction training including the appropriate training required for such employees to perform their jobs safely;

(3) provide employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business with appropriate personal protective equipment and/or clothing and all safe work method statements that they would otherwise supply to their own employees; and

(4) ensure employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business are made aware of any risks identified in the workplace and the procedures to control those risks.

(iii) Nothing in this subclause is intended to affect or detract from any obligation or responsibility upon a labour hire business arising under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 or the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998.

(iv) Disputes Regarding the Application of this Clause

Where a dispute arises as to the application or implementation of this sub clause, the matter shall be dealt with pursuant to the disputes settlement procedure of this award.

(v) This clause has no application in respect of organisations which are properly registered as Group Training Organisations under the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Act 2001 (or equivalent interstate legislation) and are deemed by the relevant State Training Authority to comply with the national standards for Group Training Organisations established by the ANTA Ministerial Council.

12.5 Workplace Delegates

12.5.1 An employee appointed as a workplace delegate shall upon notification by the union to the employer be recognised as the accredited representative of the union to which they belong and they shall be allowed all necessary time during working hours to submit to the employer matters affecting the employees they represent and further shall be allowed reasonable time during working hours to attend to job matters affecting their union. Provided that the foregoing does not relieve the workplace delegate of the obligation imposed upon them by their employer.

A workplace delegate shall notify the principal contractor's representative and their union prior to the calling of any stopwork meeting so that the procedures laid down in clause 11 Settlement of Disputes, of this award, may be observed before any stoppage of work occurs.

12.5.2 Prior to dismissal or transfer, two days' notice shall be given to any workplace delegate and the union. Payment in lieu of notice shall not be given. In the event of the union disputing the decision of management to transfer the workplace delegate or terminate their service they shall remain on the job during which time it will be dealt with by the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales.

The appropriate union shall, within 3 working days of notifying the management that it disputes the decision to transfer or terminate the workplace delegate, request the Industrial Registrar in writing to refer it to the Industrial Relations Commission to deal with the matter.

The union and the employer shall do all things necessary to enable the Industrial Relations Commission to hear the matter within 10 working days of the management decision to transfer or terminate the workplace delegate. If the Industrial Relations Commission cannot sit within 10 working days because of the employer's failure to co-operate, the decision to transfer or terminate the workplace delegate shall be null and void.

If the Industrial Relations Commission cannot sit within 10 working days because of the union's unavailability the workplace delegates transfer or termination shall automatically take effect at the expiry of the period of 10 working days.

Provided that nothing in this subclause shall prevent the parties proceeding by agreement to have the matter settled in accordance with clause 11.1 in lieu of referring the matter to the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales.

Provided further that nothing shall affect the right of the employer to dismiss a workplace delegate without notice for misconduct or refusing duty.

12.6 Amenities

12.6.1 The terms of the WorkCover NSW Code of Practice: Amenities for Construction Work in relation to toilets and drinking water shall apply as a term of this award.

12.6.2 The terms of the WorkCover NSW Code of Practice: Amenities for Construction Work in relation to Change rooms shall apply as a term of this award:

(a) there is a total of fifteen employees of all trades, whether under this award or otherwise employed at the one time; and

(b) the job has been or will be of two months duration or longer.

12.7 First-Aid Equipment

The employer shall as soon as is reasonably possible supply means, free of charge, to convey to the nearest hospital or doctor at which, or by whom, the employee is to be treated, any employee so seriously injured that it is not reasonably possible for such employee to travel independently of such conveyance.

The relevant first-aid provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 which prescribes that a first-aid kit with specified contents shall be provided and maintained by the employer on each job, shall be a term of this award.

12.8 Special Tools and Protective Clothing

12.8.1 The employer shall provide the following tools and protective clothing when they are required for the work to be performed by the employees:

(a) Bricklayers: Scutch combs; hammers (excepting mash and brick hammers), rubber mallets; T-squares.

(b) Carpenters and Joiners: Dogs and cramps of all descriptions; bars of all descriptions; augers of all sizes, star bits and bits not ordinarily used in a brace; hammers, except claw hammers; glue pots and glue brushes; dowell plates, trammels; hand and thumb screws; spanners; soldering irons.

(c) Stonemasons:

(i) The employer shall provide all cutting tools, except mash hammers, squares, pitching tools and straightedges up to 1.2 metres in length.

(ii) If cutting tools are not provided the employer shall pay 3 cents per hour additional to the wage rates herein prescribed.

(iii) Employers shall sharpen in a proper manner, all necessary tools. On completion of engagement all cutting tools provided by the employee shall be sharpened or an allowance made in lieu thereof.

(iv) All pneumatic surfacing machines and lathes shall be fitted by the employer with jet sprays or some other suitable device for keeping the stone wet.

(d) Plasterers:

(i) The employer shall supply all floating rules, trammels, centres, buckets and sieves. Stands for plasterers' mortar boards not less than .8 metres from the ground or where practicable and safe from a scaffold level shall be provided for the plasterer by the employer when requested.

(ii) Plasterers shall be provided with overalls when required to brush on to walls and ceilings, bondcrete, plasterweld or similar substances.

(iii) The approved brush and roller to perform the work in paragraph (i) of this subclause shall be provided by the employer.

(e) All employees:

(i) All power tools and steel tapes over 6 metres.

(ii) Gloves, and at the request of the employee, hand protective paste, shall be provided by the employer for employees engaged in handling hot bitumen, creosote, oiled formwork and in washing down brickwork.

(iii) An employee required to use toxic substances shall be informed by the employer of the health hazards involved and instructed in the correct and necessary safeguards which must be observed in the use of such materials.

(iv) Employees using such materials will be provided with and shall use all safeguards as are required by clause 12.4, Protection of Employees, of this award and the appropriate Government authority or in absence of such requirement such safeguards as are defined by a competent authority or person chosen by the union and the employer.

(v) For the purpose of this subclause toxic substances shall include epoxy based materials and all materials which include or require the addition of a catalyst hardener and reactive additives or two pack catalyst system shall be deemed to be materials of a like nature.

(vi) The employer shall make available for the use of carpenters and joiners, during working hours, a suitable grindstone or wheel together with power (hand or mechanically driven) for turning it. If a grindstone or wheel is not made available the employer shall pay to each carpenter or joiner an allowance set out in subclause 25.28.

12.8.2 Special conditions to apply to bricklayers and labourers engaged on construction or repairs to refractory brickwork.

Supply of Overalls, Gloves, Boots.

(a) Gloves shall be supplied when employees are engaged on repair work and shall be replaced as required, subject to employees handing in the used gloves.

(b) Boots shall be supplied upon request of the employee after six weeks' employment, the cost of such boots to be assessed at $54.00 and employees to accrue credit at the rate of $2.70 per week. Employees leaving or being dismissed before 20 weeks' employment shall pay the difference between the credit accrued and the $54.00. The right to accrue credit shall commence from the date of request for the boots. In the event of boots being supplied and the employee not wearing them while at work, the employer shall be entitled to deduct the cost of the boots if the failure to wear them continues after one warning by the employer. Upon issue of the boots, employees may be required to sign the authority form in or to the effect of the Annexure to this clause. Boots shall be replaced each six months, dating from the first issue.

(c) Where necessary, when bricklayers and labourers are engaged on work covered by 25.13 and 25.14 of clause 25 - Special Rates, overalls will be supplied upon request of the employee and on the condition that they are worn while performing the work.

Annexure to subclause 12.8.2(c)

 

The employee claiming the supply of boots in accordance with 12.8.2(b) may be required to sign a form giving an authority to the employer in accordance with the following:

 

DEDUCTION FORM

I acknowledge receipt of one (1) pair of boots provided in accordance with the provisions of subclause 12.8.2 (b) of this award. Should the full cost of the boots ($54.00) not be met by accumulation of credit (at the rate of $2.70 per week) from ……......…………………….. I authorise deductions from any moneys due to me by my employer ………………………….. of an amount necessary to meet the difference between the credit accrued and $54.00.

 

Signed ……………………………….. Date ……………………………..

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