What are Zombie Agreements?

 

You know what a zombie is:

But do you know what a Zombie Agreement is?

It’s not that.

 

A ‘Zombie Agreement’ is a type of registered agreement that was made before 1 January 2010 and is still in operation today.

Certain kinds of registered agreements that were made before 1 January 2010 continued to operate when the Fair Work Act 2009 fully commenced on 1 January 2010 (‘pre-2010 agreements’).

Pre-2010 agreements include:

  • certified agreements
  • collective agreements
  • Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) and Individual Transitional Employment Agreements (ITEAs) made under previous Commonwealth law
  • collective and individual agreements that were registered under New South Wales, Queensland, South Australian and Tasmanian industrial relations laws
  • enterprise agreements made by the Commission in the ‘bridging period’ between 1 July 2009 and 31 December 2009.

Many pre-2010 agreements no longer cover anyone and have ceased to operate.

However some pre-2010 agreements still cover employees and continue to operate today, and these are commonly known as ‘Zombie Agreements’.

Why do we care about Zombie Agreements?

On 7 December 2023, Zombie Agreements will automatically terminate unless an application has been made to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to extend it.

When a Zombie Agreement terminates, it ceases to cover any staff and the legal minimum pay and conditions for staff that were covered by the Agreement are very likely to change.

New pay and conditions may be set by a modern award or by a new Enterprise Agreement.

This can leave staff vulnerable if there is no new Enterprise Agreement in place. In some cases, you may not want a Zombie Agreement to terminate so as to protect existing pay and conditions while a new Agreement is negotiated.

Are you on a Zombie Agreement?

CBA 

As each of the Zombie Agreements is an individual arrangement, the terms and conditions may not be the same from one to the other, so we encourage you to obtain a copy of your current individual agreement (AWA or ITEA) as soon as possible from Sidekick or directly from CBA HR Direct via Dash.  Tell us if you are on a Zombie Agreement as soon as possible.  

TELL US IF YOU ARE ON A ZOMBIE AGREEMENT

AMP 

Even though the current Agreement is old, it contains some great conditions that are worth saving. For example, our maximum redundancy pay under the Agreement is 104 weeks, but under the modern Award minimum standards it would revert to 16 weeks. That’s a big difference.  We’ve asked AMP to negotiate with us for a new Enterprise Agreement, but they have repeatedly declined.  AMP staff are encouraged to take our survey about current work patterns so we can apply for an extension and safeguard our current conditions until AMP comes to the table to negotiate a new Agreement.  

TELL US IF YOU ARE ON An AMP ZOMBIE AGREEMENT

Bendigo

Many Bendigo workers are actually not covered by an Enterprise Agreement and may be on a Zombie Agreement. The FSU has applied to the Fair Work Commission to have these Zombie Agreements extended so we can retain our existing entitlements while we negotiate for a new Agreement.

Find out more

You can use the Fair Work Commission checklist to help you find out if you are on a Zombie Agreement.  

If you think you may be on a Zombie Agreement, please contact the FSU Member Rights Centre on 1300 366 378 or fsuinfo@fsunion.org.au 

Source:  

Fair Work Commission. (2023). Fair Work Commission fact sheet. Sunsetting of pre-2010 agreements that continue to operate (‘zombie agreements’). https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/resources/pre-2010-agreements-sunsetting-factsheet.pdf