GA Award & Common Rule.

[C152R]

From an interest point of view which States or Terriotory in Oz, can operators apply the Common Rule instead of the GA Award?

[Horatio Leafblower]

:confused:

My understanding is that in the Northern Territory, the relevant court has ruled that the award applies as the minimum to all GA operators and pilots.

This is what is meant by the phrase "Common Rule".

If I am wrong I am sure my learned Territorian Friend "The Voice" will pick me up on it. :ok:

[Capt Hollywood]

I believe it was May last year that the NT government passed 'common law' on the GA Award. Put simply it means that regardless of whether you are a signatory to the award or not you are required to pay the award to pilots based in the NT. Don't think it made any difference though!

Cheers,

CH :cool:

[disco_air]

Yeah too bad they dont enforce it on certain operators!

Luckily my operator does.

What other states have made the award common rule?

....Disco

[PLovett]

Believe it applies to ACT as well.

Please note that I believe it was an application by the AFAP that was not opposed by the territories that led to it becoming the common rule in the NT and ACT.

I do not know why the application was not made for the states as well. Perhaps a member of the AFAP could enlighten us as to that.

[Woomera]

Arn't all Federal Awards Common Law in Tasmania and Victoria, as I understand those states delegated their IR powers to the Commonwealth?

I'll see if I can get Lawrie Cox of the AFAP to comment.

Woomera

[C152R]

Is it possible to get a definitive answer to this question from someone who does know, instead of people making assumptions. This would help both the pilot & operator. In States where the GA Award does not apply the pilot can expect to be paid the minimum wage and not the GA Award, this would reduce friction between both parties and the pilots expectations would be more realistic.

Nearly every pilot I know expects to be paid the GA Award. However it appears from the posts here, it may not be necessarily so. Can we have a simple answer ie. Vic. GA Award applies.
Qld. GA Award does not have to be applied as Common Rule applies, in this case can we be informed of what the minimum wage is.

[Horatio Leafblower]

There is plenty of information for you at www.wagenet.gov.au.

In the meantime I have just cut this straight out of the award:



5. WHERE AND WHO THE AWARD COVERS
5.1 The award applies in Australia and its Territories. It is also applicable to pilots operating overseas from a base within Australia and its Territories on behalf of the operator.
5.2 This award relates to the industry of persons employed as pilots in any capacity whether full-time, part-time or casual in General Aviation excepting Helicopters and Aerial Agriculture operations.

6. WHO IS BOUND BY THIS AWARD?
The award is binding upon each of the employers and/or operators named in Appendix A; each pilot identified in 5.2, and the Australian Federation of Air Pilots.


Mate I think this is pretty clear; it applies to all GA pilots in Australia. :ok:

Where it is less clear is which employers it applies to. From wagenet:


Federal awards or agreements can apply to an employer (and therefore relevant employees working for that employer) when:
[LIST]
the employer is specifically named in the parties bound clause; or
the employer is a member of a federally registered employer organisation named in the parties bound clause; eg. the Australian Hotels Association; or
an employer buys a business that is already named in a Federal award - the award then applies to the new owner; or
[***](only in the ACT or NT) where the AIRC under s141 of the Workplace Relations Act 1996, declares an award to be a common rule award for a particular industry. In the ACT and NT ‘Common Rule’ awards can apply to all employees in a particular industry whether or not their employers are named in the award as being respondents to the award.


If you are in Victoria you are only covered by the Federal award and the above clause applies; if your employer isn't a respondent I don't think they are bound.

In NSW the Award is the minimum you are allowed to be paid. Any AWA's or EBA's must satisfy a "no disadvantage" test meaning that your net position doesn't move backwards under more "flexible" arrangements.

"Flexibility" is important; it means your employer can bend you over further. :yuk:

Not sure how the new IR legislation will affect this but Howard has repeatedly refused to say the "no disadvantage" test will stay.

[C152R]

Horatio, thankyou for taking the time to answer the question, this is one reason I gave aviation away, the wage I was expecting wasn't forthcoming.
On another note how do I find out who are the respondents in NSW, VIC & TAS.
Secondly If I am employed on a casual wage how am I covered from an insurance point of view if for instance I have an engine failure and land on farm land where crops are damaged.
a. Can I be sued
b. Or does the operators insurance cover me?
A couple of years ago I heard of a case where a pilot landed in a sugar cane patch and there was crop damage. The farmer sued the pilot. Has this point regarding insurance been resolved?

[Horatio Leafblower]

C152R: Are you a member of the AFAP? If you were, they could probably have advised you and your workmates and gone in to bat for you.

They negotiated the award in the first place and it might be argued that non-members expecting to get paid the award are piggy-backing on the dues paid by financial members.

NB: If you were a member of the AFAP I am sure they would provide all this info for free.

Q1: Who are the respondents?

You will find the respondents in Appx. I of the award, which you can find easily on the AFAP website www.afap.org.au

Q2: Liability

Insurance will only pay out if the liable party has a public liability or professional indemnity policy that will cover them in all the circumstances. So: who is liable?

I am not aware of the case you refer to, however, some general principles:

If you are acting in the course ofyour employment and as authorised by your employer, you are protected by a principle called vicarious liability. This means that your employer takes responsibility for the consequences of your acts or omissions in the course of your employment.

Your employer can escape liability in a couple of ways, but the primary defence would be that the employee is acting "on a frolic of his/her own". A frolic is something that is not essentially or incidentally connected with the duties of your job.

To take your mate's example, let's say he was engaged on a charter and an engine failure caused a forced landing. Presuming he conducted the forced landing correctly and within the scope demanded by the company it is difficult to see how his employer is not liable for the damage caused.

Again, if he was a member of the AFAP I am sure they could have advised him (if not contributed to the defence).

Incidentally it is curious that he was sued personally by the cocky - there's not much point in suing the average GA pilot I would have thought! (Ya can't get blood from a stone) :{

The classification of your employment (Full Time, PT, Cas) is not important to the principle of vicarious liability - so long as your employer has control over your work, has the power to hire and fire you, pays your wages, sets your hours etc then you are probably an employee.

BEWARE: The position of an independent contractor may be different! In all likelyhood the usual shonky GA "contractor" arrangement coul be shown to be that of Master and Servant but I wouldn't like to be the one trying it out. :uhoh:

NB2: This legal advice is of a general nature, provided by a part-time law student and pilot, and is worth the same as you have paid for it: nuthin'.:ok:

[C152R]

Being a member of the AFAP is a very good idea. They also provide loss of licence insurance. They used to have various levels of membership, the fulltime pilot members used to pay 1% of salary but there was also membership for the guys who were employed part time on a much reduced rate. Has that changed??

[Charliethewonderdog]

I think you will find that the NT, ACT and Victoria ( not sure about Tassie) are the only states and Territories that recognise the Aviation Industry award as Common Law. The other States are only protected by the minimum wages awards.

If your Company is not paying the Award (regardless where you work), the whole award including all the relevant allowances, loss of licence protection, Phone allowances, etc…etc… now is the time to discuss with your employer and get what you are entitled to. I’m sick of hearing companies saying and advertising that they pay the award but stop at base salaries. There is a lot more you are entitled to under the award than you think.

I beg all pilots working for companies from C210 scenic operations to RPT services to stand together and fight for what you are INTITLED to. When you leave a company put in a Back pay claim with wagenet, which will force the company to pay the AWARD.
For years we have heard about the supply and demand working against us, the tide is now turning, small GA operators that have ripped off their staff for years are losing too much experience to treat people like they have in the past. The tree can not be shaken anymore, there are less and less pilots learning to fly every year, pilot minimums are still increasing so the value of your experience is of high value, especially with insurance minimums and mining contracts etc…..

Join the AFAP vote for your representatives and be active in discussing working condition amongst your professional colleges and employer.

Companies are struggling all across Australia to find pilots with the relevant experience that they need, some even having to sell aircraft and decrease their operation because of it.

Do not sell your self short, you are a highly skilled proffesional, working in a dangerous industry that should reward you for your years of training and experience.

And It’s about time the AFAP negotiated an increase in the AWARD to match the increase in other professions.

[notmyC150v2]

If you want to find out if your employer is a respondent to the Award you can find the award here (http://www.wagenet.gov.au/WageNet/Search/View.ASP?docid=262211&query=(GENERAL%20AVIATION)&quickview=Y&attr=RH).

If you look at the bottom of the left hand side of the screen you will find the words (Roping in Awards). If you click on this link you will find a list of employers who are respondent to the Award.

If you are a General Aviation flight crew in NT, ACT or Victoria you are covered by the Award as it has been declared a "Common Rule" Award in those states and territories.

If you are a flight crew working on international flights from Australia you are covered by this Award.

If you are working in GA within Australia and are based in WA, SA, NSW, Tas or QLD and your employers name does not appear in the Respondents list at the end of the Award then you are either Award free or you may be covered by a State Award (I can't find any though).

Sorry I just found out that the full list of respondents for the General Aviation Award is tucked in under the rates of pay for "First Officers/second pilots". If you click that link and scroll down you will find the full list. sorry about that.

[rcoight]

What about if you are working for a company that is based (ie. has its 'headquarters') in one state but you are flying out of a 'satellite' base in another state?
Particularly, say, if the state the headquarters is in is covered by the award, but the state you fly out of is not?

[Capt Hollywood]

I'm pretty sure if 'you' are based in the NT or ACT then the rule applies regardless of where your company headquarters are. I asked the NT Chamber of Commerce a couple of years ago and I'm pretty sure that's what they said. :)

CH :cool:

[notmyC150v2]

Mr Coight,
It is quite correct that if your employer is respondent to the Award anywhere in the country then you are covered. This is as long as the employer that is respondent eg. ABC Helicopters Pty Ltd trading as whiteknuckle airlines is the same company that employs you.

If however you are employed by DEF Helicopters Pty Ltd trading as whiteknuckle airlines and the respondent is ABC then you are not covered.

It is very important that you find out who the legal entity is that employs you (ignore trading names) and then research the respondency accordingly.