The Commission, under s 40B of the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA), implemented several variations to the Hairdressers Award 1989 to align it with contemporary standards, remove obsolete provisions, and ensure fairness for hair dressing employees in Western Australia.

Key changes included adjustments to wages, leave entitlements, and definitions, as well as the inclusion of provisions covering trainees and related to domestic violence leave.

Background

The Commission provided notice of its intention to vary the Award to UnionsWA, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA, the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, the Minister for Industrial Relations, the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) and each of the parties to the Award being the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association of Western Australia (SDA), the Master Hairdressers’ Industrial Union of Employers of W.A. (MHA) and all named individual employers.

The Commission subsequently convened a conference to seek input from interested parties about the issues with the Award, and the appropriate drafting revisions to address them. Representatives for the Minister, the MHA, the SDA, and the AWU attended the conference.

The Commission then published notice of proposed variations to the Award, pursuant to s 40B(2). A hearing was convened for the purpose of affording interested persons an opportunity to be heard in relation to those proposed variations.

Findings

The Commission made the following specific variations to modernise and align the Award with current legislation and industrial practices while ensuring clarity and consistency in its provisions.

Title of the Award: The title of the Award was updated to remove the year of the Award, following current naming practices for awards.

1.  Arrangement Clause: Like clauses have been grouped together under functional headings.
2. Term Clause: The term clause, which defined the duration of the Award, was deleted as it was no longer relevant.
3.  Definitions Clause: The definitions clause was renumbered from clause 5 to clause 4. Several definitions updated or contemporised and new definitions added. Irrelevant definitions removed, and classifications moved to Schedule C.
4. Engagement: Previous clause 12 covering contracts of employment and termination has been split into clause 5 and clause 6.
5. Hours: Hours of work were previously covered in clause 6. Under new clause 7, the provisions have been updated in accordance with the Retail Trading Hours Act 1987 (WA).
6. Display of Rosters: Previous clause 7 covering display of rosters has been moved to clause 8 and now requires rosters to cover the period of Monday to Sunday (rather than Monday to Saturday).
7. Overtime: Wording of this clause updated for clarity, and previous sub-clause (1)(a) has been removed due to it being confusing, inaccurate, and out of date.
8. Meal times and break periods: Clause 10 covers meal time and replaces previous clause 15. The Clause has been modernised based on language used in the recently varied Shop and Ware Warehouse (Wholesale and Retail Establishments) Award 1977 (SWA)
9. Long Service Leave: Clause 14 covers Long Service Leave and replaces previous clause 21. Provisions varied to refer to the provisions of the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA)
10. Wages: A number of changes have been made to provisions pertaining to wages, including addition of new classifications in the Award, removal of references to the historical incorporation of loading in lieu of penalties, movement of penalty rates now set out in a table, changes to outdated language, and removal of provisions relating to a four-year apprenticeship no longer available in hairdressing.
11. Traineeships: A new clause covering traineeships has been added to the Award, directly incorporating minimum pay and conditions applying to trainees in the national industrial relations system.
12. Time and Wages Record: Clause 23 replaces previous clause 17 and updates provisions previously inconsistent with statutory requirements under the IR Act and LSL Act.
13. Other Variations: Various substitutions and variations have been made throughout the Award to improve clarity without altering the substantive operation of the clauses.

The Commission made the further variations to ensure compliance with the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 (WA) (MCEA).

1. Family and Domestic Violence Leave: A new clause was added to address Family and Domestic Violence Leave.
2. Termination of Employment: provisions requiring an employee to forfeit pay in lieu of giving notice have been removed as they may be incompatible with the MCEA.
3. Public Holidays: Clause 11 replaces the previous clause 9 and is updated to add Easter Sunday as a public holiday under the Award, change the name of Foundation Day to Western Australia Day, and remove provisions enabling an employee to forfeit wages where the employee has been absent without leave on the day before or after a public holiday, as the provision was inconsistent with, and less favourable than, the MCEA.
4. Annual Leave: Clause 12 replaces the previous clause 10 and provisions regarding annual leave were updated to align with the MCEA.
5. Personal Leave: Clause 13 replaces the previous clause 14 and replaces references to “sick pay” and “sick leave” with “personal leave” reflecting the provisions of the MCEA. The provisions of this clause have also been simplified by incorporating personal leave provisions of the MCEA, and evidentiary requirements for applications for personal leave aligned with the MCEA.
6. Parental Leave: New clause 15 makes provisions for parental leave to be provided in accordance with the FW Act and the MCEA.
7. Bereavement Leave: Clause 16 replaces the previous clause 28 – Compassionate Leave. The clause has been updated to refer to the provisions of the MCEA.

The decision can be read here.