• We commenced further discussion regarding the offer presented and taking into consideration any feedback provided by the bargaining representatives.
• Endeavour Foundation is of the opinion that we have negotiated the agreement as far as practicable, and are now in a position to present the final agreement to the broader team at Endeavour Foundation for approval.
• Some of the bargaining representatives have indicated that they do not agree with the proposed agreement being put to employees. Although we have always intended to achieve a general consensus from all bargaining representatives, we do not have to have them agree before putting it to a vote for all employees.
• Endeavour Foundation will now commence a thorough communication and engagement process with all employees.
• You will expect to hear from us directly in the coming weeks about what the details of the offer look like and what this means for you!

• Following some detailed correspondence between the parties on feedback of the current drafting, the parties re-entered the room to continue discussing the current draft.
• Endeavour Foundation took the parties draft through the draft in detail, explaining areas of flexibility and identifying areas which would require further discussion.
• Endeavour Foundation then presented the wage offer and all associated clauses to support this. There was also clarity provided on all financial terms regarding the agreement for discussion.
• The parties agreed to continue moving towards the finalisation of the document at the back end of July.

• Endeavour Foundation lead the discussion with any redrafting that has occurred following feedback from the bargaining representatives.
• The draft document was updated, and any newly agreed items were coloured green to confirm. It was then circulated to all bargaining representatives for further review and consideration.
• The negotiations are still positively moving forward and we are working through a number of items in particular to assist us in having a draft document to share with all employees in the coming weeks.
• We continued to discuss the timeline required to achieve the agreement before our current EFUCA expires. All parties have agreed to proactively move towards these key dates.

• All draft clauses were presented to the bargaining representatives for further consideration. We reviewed a consolidated document of all proposed clauses and discussed the document in detail.
• The document was colour coded in order of what was and was not agreed at this point to make it clear to all bargaining representatives where we still required further discussion.
• We discussed the roster consultation clause in more detail. All parties were clear on the current position and any further discussion was to be collated in the broader clause review from here.
• The negotiations continued to progress well with a clear understanding on which areas were still requiring focused discussion.

• Endeavour Foundation and the bargaining representatives discussed the Roster Consultation Clause in more detail, moving us closer to agreeing to the terms included.

• The union provided further feedback on draft clauses that have been provided by Endeavour Foundation.

• We discussed the timeline required to implement a new agreement, and agreed to increased meetings as required to meet this timeline.

• We discussed draft clauses that have been provided by Endeavour Foundation and the union provided feedback on these clauses.

• Endeavour Foundation provided a redrafted Roster Consultation Clause for review from all bargaining representatives.

• Discussions remained positive and productive towards moving closer to an agreement.

• David Swain attended the meeting to share some valuable insight into the organisation and how this interacts with negotiations. This conversation was positive with a real understanding that Endeavour Foundation are dedicated to reaching an agreement.

• We entered further discussions on the Roster Consultation Clause to move closer to an agreement on this clause. These conversations were positive and identified how close we now are on this clause.

• We agreed on a proposed approach to best continue to review the other clauses within the agreement.

• We continued detailed discussion on the Roster Consultation Clause, as this is a critical component of an agreement for both parties.

• We agreed on some preferred next steps to assist in this discussion, and to allow the negotiations to continue progressing forward.

• Endeavour Foundation provided bargaining representatives with the final draft clauses that do not include payment terms. This allows the majority of the document to continue being discussed and developed.

• The Union provided further feedback on clauses that had been drafted, and this discussion is progressing well.

• We discussed the Roster Consultation Clause in detail, with both parties sharing a proposed draft of this clause to further discussions.

• We continued our conversation on the Roster Consultation provisions, with the Union providing feedback to the proposed principles shared in our last session.  This was a very productive session and we continue to work collaboratively to build a robust consultation process that balances our employee experience with ensuring that we are best placed to support our clients.

• We discussed and closed out a significant number of actions arising from previous sessions.

• We shared insights on what our employees are telling us, following the optional drop in sessions hosted by P&W last week, and the TSU’s sessions this week.

• It was agreed that today’s session will be our last for 2023, and we have confirmed that we will resume on a fortnightly basis from January 25, 2024.  Both parties have a number of actions that we will continue to progress while we work through the holiday season, so there will still be progress through this time. 

• We have agreed that on resumption in January 2024, we would like to start working to draft up agreement clauses with a view of getting a draft agreement in place that we can use as a working draft.  This is a really exciting next step that will allow us to start to get a picture of what our new agreement is going to look like, and how it will work for our employees. 

• Both parties acknowledge the significant progress and collaboration since we resumed bargaining in September, and we move into 2024 in a really good position to resolve the EFUCA replacement.

• We discussed the extension request for the EFUCA, that was granted by the Fair Work Commission at the end of October.  This now means that the EFUCA will remain in place until December 6, 2024, or until it is replaced by an new agreement (whichever comes first).

• We continued our conversation on the Roster Consultation provisions, with Endeavour Foundation providing a position that we believe could ensure appropriate consultation while also aligning with the best outcomes for the people we support.  These discussions are continuing, but we are making good progress.

• We finalised our review of the historical log of claims log of claims, confirming the parties bargaining positions on a number of items.  This log of claims document will now form the basis of our negotiations positions moving forward.

• We discussed our intention to continue negotiation sessions up to and including December 14, 2023, with a pause for the festive season given a number of the parties will be taking leave over this period.  We will align on a recommencement date for 2024 in our next session.

• We discussed that Endeavour Foundation will be holding a number of optional drop-in sessions for employees that would like to ask any questions about the EA.  The union have confirmed that they will be doing the same, to and further information will come out via email on both of these sessions in the coming week.  

• We discussed the extension request for the EFUCA, confirming that all submissions are now with the Fair Work Commission for consideration.

• We furthered our conversation on the Roster Consultation provisions in the agreement, working positively to find a solution that balances the employee need of good consultation when roster changes are required, as well as ensuring alignment with the best outcomes for the people we support.

• We continued discussions from 3 October on the log of claims, continuing to discuss the parties bargaining positions on a number of items.  It is important that the parties get this opportunity to be heard on their positions on various key negotiation points, as this allows us to plan out how we progress through negotiations to focus on those items that are of most important to the parties. 

This was a productive session and we have noted some of the important items below:

• We reviewed the previous bargaining session records to ensure that the hard work that was undertaken previously was acknowledged.  This has allowed us to be able to see each party’s views on key items as we progress down the path of negotiation.

• The review also allowed those who are new to the negotiation team the opportunity to understand the work that has been done to date, and where each party is positioned.

• Endeavour Foundation has provided a set of principles for discussion in support of the updating of our roster consultation clause. We would like to see a roster consultation that is robust in the way it engages with employees who are seeking to change their rosters. There also needs to be an alignment with ensuring the best outcomes for the people we support.

It’s not possible to confirm how long it will take to negotiate a new agreement.

However, there the process includes the following steps:

1. Preparation: Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR) issued advising you of the right to appoint a bargaining representative. This was issued previously on August 17, 2021.
2. Negotiations: Formal meetings between Endeavour Foundation and unions.
3. In principle agreement reached: A proposed new agreement drafted
4. Employee ballot: Endeavour Foundation are given the opportunity to vote on the proposed agreement.
5. Approval and operation: Vote successful, agreement submitted and approved by Fair Work Commission (FWC) and is then implemented.

After each negotiation session we will provide you an update.

The NERR is a legal document for employees proposed to be covered by a new enterprise agreement. It outlines your right to appoint a bargaining representative during the negotiations. The NERR explains the process to appoint a representative.

Please make sure you look at the NERR and read the FAQs

Four important things you need to know 

1. It’s about negotiating the new enterprise agreement
2. It’s an important legal document – please make time to read it
3. It’s about your right to appoint a person to represent you during the process
4. You’ve received it because it is proposed that you will be covered by a new enterprise agreement

The Endeavour Foundation negotiation team are:

• Kye Rutter – Head of People Business Partnering
• David Groessler – Employee Relations Manager
• Simon Wright – General Manager, Home and Community

If you are a member of a union, your union will automatically represent you. The unions who are party to the negotiations are the:

• Justin Moran – The Services Union (TSU)
• Tracey Coorey – The Services Union (TSU)
• Geoff Taylor – Australian Workers’ Union (AWU).

Endeavour Foundation Employees / Bargaining Parties

• Rodger Cooke – Work division – Production Team Leader – Maroochydore
• Abe Nugent – Home and Community division – Support Worker – Far North Queensland
• Leonie Jeffrey – Work division – Employment Coach – NSW
• Julie Campbell – Home and Community division – Support Worker – Tewantin

You have the right to represent yourself or nominate a bargaining representative. You can participate in the enterprise bargaining process by referring to the NERR.

If you have any questions about the sunsetting of our Enterprise Agreement you can lodge a ticket through the #TeamPossible Support Hub here or once you are in the #TeamPossible Support Hub click on ‘I need P&W support’ and then click on ‘EA Support’.

The FWC introduced a regulation requiring organisations to terminate or “sunset” any pre-2010 employment agreements with expired terms and conditions, commonly known as “zombie agreements.”

The default termination date (or expiry date) for “zombie agreements” is 7 December 2023.

When the Fair Work Act fully commenced on 1 January 2010, certain registered agreements made before that date continued to be valid under the Fair Work Act (pre-2010 agreements).

A zombie agreement is an agreement made before 1 January 2010 also referred to as a pre-2010 agreement. The agreement must have been made before the Fair Work Act 2009 came into effect and is still active without being terminated or replaced by a new agreement.

We have three (3) agreements due to sunset on 7 December 2023:

1. Endeavour Foundation Union Collective Agreement (EFUCA)
2. Community Solutions Certified Agreement
3. Cumberland Certified Agreement (NSW only)

You can visit the Fair Work Commission website at www.fwc.gov.au and search Sunsetting of pre-2010 agreements (‘zombie agreements’).

The term “sunsetting” describes the process because, similar to the sun setting, the pre-2010 agreement automatically terminates unless steps are taken to keep it active beyond the default termination date. It symbolises the agreement coming to an end.

There are many benefits to remaining on an enterprise agreement, which include paying above minimum modern award rates, increasing flexibility for both employees and employers, and tailoring conditions to suit the working environment at Endeavour Foundation.

Whilst we understand our current agreement is expired, we remain committed to negotiating an updated position with The Services Union (TSU), Australian Workers Union (AWU) and the bargaining parties, and believe we can successfully achieve this if we receive an extension. Any updated agreement will allow for flexibility on working conditions, whilst ensuring employees are better off overall than what they would be under the applicable modern award for their role.