Chapter 9: Employment instruments and Individual Flexibility Arrangements
Employees within the APS generally have their employment terms and conditions set by one of the following primary employment instruments:
- Enterprise Agreements (EA) 3 4
- Public Service Act Determinations (s24 (1) and (3)) (PSAD)
- Common Law Agreements (CLA)
- Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA).
The majority of non-SES employees are employed under an EA. Only 1.1% are covered by a PSAD, CLA or AWA that operates as the primary employment instrument (Table 9.1).
|
Primary Employment Instrument |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Classification |
AWA |
CLA |
EA |
PSAD |
|
Grad. |
|
|
1,336 |
1 |
|
APS 1 |
|
|
481 |
1 |
|
APS 2 |
|
1 |
1,856 |
1 |
|
APS 3 |
|
5 |
12,009 |
10 |
|
APS 4 |
|
44 |
26,198 |
112 |
|
APS 5 |
|
38 |
19,731 |
146 |
|
APS 6 |
1 |
57 |
31,548 |
314 |
|
EL 1 |
3 |
79 |
25,109 |
410 |
|
EL 2 |
2 |
78 |
10,922 |
165 |
|
SES 1 |
8 |
226 |
22 |
1,766 |
|
SES 2 |
6 |
66 |
7 |
474 |
|
SES 3 |
|
10 |
|
113 |
|
ALL |
20 |
604 |
129,219 |
3,513 |
Public Service Act Determinations providing wage increases
The Workplace Bargaining Policy 2018 allows agencies to adopt new workplace arrangements to suit business needs. Agencies that have been satisfied with the operation of an existing EA, and gained the support of employees, have been able to provide new wage increases through alternative instruments. Several agencies have used a PSAD as a secondary employment instrument to provide new wage increases on top of an EA that has passed its nominal expiry date. Almost 11,000 APS employees who are covered by an EA have had wages set under a PSAD. As at 31 December 2019, 29 APS agencies had used a PSAD to provide new wage increases.
Individual Flexibility Arrangements
A small percentage (2.4%) of employees have additional terms and conditions provided under a secondary agreement known as an Individual Flexibility Arrangement (IFA). Table 9.2 shows that 71% of employees using an IFA were at the EL 1 or EL 2 classification.
An IFA can be used to provide for a range of conditions such as pay and allowances, leave, income maintenance, flexible working arrangements, superannuation and subscriptions or memberships. In 2019, the majority of IFAs were used to provide pay and allowances.
|
Classification |
Headcount |
Percentage |
|---|---|---|
|
Grad. |
2 |
0.1% |
|
APS 1 |
0 |
0.0% |
|
APS 2 |
2 |
0.1% |
|
APS 3 |
28 |
0.9% |
|
APS 4 |
158 |
5.0% |
|
APS 5 |
159 |
5.0% |
|
APS 6 |
555 |
17.5% |
|
EL 1 |
1,033 |
32.7% |
|
EL 2 |
1,200 |
37.9% |
|
SES 1 |
23 |
0.7% |
|
SES 2 |
3 |
0.1% |
|
SES 3 |
0 |
0.0% |
|
All |
3,163 |
100% |
3 Includes agencies using a Public Service Act Determination for the purposes of wage increases while continuing to provide other terms and conditions through an Enterprise Agreement that has passed its nominal expiry date.
4 The Department of Home Affairs is covered by a Workplace Determination established by the Fair Work Commission. It is included under Enterprise Agreements for the purposes of this report.