NDS advises members that certain registered enterprise agreements made before 1 January 2010 that are still operating may be considered ‘zombie agreements’ by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) and automatically terminated on 7 December.  

We encourage members to check the currency of their enterprise agreements.  If you have an enterprise agreement that may be terminated and would like it to continue, you will need to apply to the FWC before 7 December to extend the default period. The FWC will only grant an extension if there are reasonable grounds.   If employees who were covered by the pre-2010 Enterprise Agreement are not covered by an enterprise agreement after 7 December, a modern award may apply. For most NDS members, these would be the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry (SCHADS) Award 2010 or the Supported Employment Services Award (SES) 2020.  Members providing supported employment services are also encouraged to seek independent industrial advice on the status of their enterprise agreement and its wage-setting arrangements. This is because some enterprise agreements may use a wage assessment tool for employees with disability that was removed from the SES Award on 1 July this year.  Members can obtain more information from the FWC’s interactive checklist and fact sheet.