See Fair Work Act 2009 sections 202–204
An enterprise agreement must contain a term that allows an employee and their employer to make an individual flexibility agreement (IFA) which varies the effect of terms of the agreement in order to meet the genuine needs of the employer and the individual employee.[1] This is known as a flexibility term.
A flexibility term must meet a number of requirements, including that it must:
If an employee or employer contravenes a term of an IFA they would be contravening a term of the agreement – so the IFA can be enforced as a term of the enterprise agreement.[3]
Where no flexibility term is included in the enterprise agreement, or one is included but it does not meet all the requirements, the model flexibility term set out in the Fair Work Regulations is taken to be a term of the agreement.[4]
Where the Fair Work Commission approves an enterprise agreement and the model flexibility term is taken to be a term of the agreement, that fact must be noted in the decision approving the agreement.[5]
(regulation 2.08)
[1] Fair Work Act s.202(1).
[2] Re Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations [Trimas] [2010] FWAFB 3552 (Giudice J, Harrison SDP, Blair C, 19 May 2010) at para. 6, [(2010) 195 IR 138].
[3] Fair Work Act s.202(2); see also Explanatory Memorandum to Fair Work Bill 2008 at para. 861.
[4] Fair Work Act s.202(4).
[5] Fair Work Act s.201(1); Re Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations [Trimas] [2010] FWAFB 3552 (Giudice J, Harrison SDP, Blair C, 19 May 2010) at para. 7, [(2010) 195 IR 138].