The Hospitality Fair Pay Agreement has progressed through to the next stages.
Unite Union will be holding employee meetings to discuss Fair Pay Agreements over the next few weeks and has published dates of the meetings that are being held across the country. Some of the times initially set were challenging for many of our businesses, and we have been in discussions with Unite to make more concessions and alternative meetings available. There are now online meetings as well as in person.
The obligation as an employer is to let employee(s) know about the meetings. It is the decision of the employee to attend one of them, or not.
Employers need to inform their employees of the meetings and times for their region. Using email or a letter is recommended best practice to prove this has been done.
All employees within the coverage of the proposed Hospitality Fair Pay Agreement are entitled under the legislation to attend one of these two-hour paid meetings, whether they are members of a union or not. Employers must allow their employees to attend (if they want to), and they are entitled to be paid (if the meeting occurs during their work time).
The Fair Pay Agreement legislation indicates that Employers should still be able to ‘maintain their business’ during a Fair Pay Agreement meeting, including, where appropriate, ‘an arrangement for sufficient employees to remain available during the meeting to enable the employer’s operations to continue’.
The Restaurant Association has encouraged employers to keep communication clear and open with employees. If multiple employees do want to attend any of the meetings, they may need to attend different meetings/times to enable the business to continue to operate.
Employers will get confirmation from the Union on who has attended from the workplace.
Employers have some obligations with regard to the Fair Pay Agreement legislation, and one deadline is quickly approaching on the 13th of September.
By this date, employers are required to submit the employee's contact details to Unite Union (unless the employee has chosen to opt out). At this step, employers should have informed their employees of the Fair Pay process, and provided them with information, including how to opt out of communications from the Union.
Throughout the process, the Restaurant Association will be acting as an employer bargaining party for the Fair Pay Agreement legislation for the Hospitality industry.
As part of its representation of the industry, the Restaurant Association will stay in touch with employers throughout and gather their feedback. In addition, the Restaurant Association Fair Pay Agreement advisory group has the aim to bring together representatives from across the industry to consult on the proposed outcomes being put forward in bargaining.
