How employers may introduce a provision

There are three ways an employer may introduce a provision:

Informal arrangement

Informal work arrangements may be one-off or ad-hoc arrangements that are verbally agreed to by the employee and employer and are not registered or approved by an authority or tribunal
These work arrangements are often not intended by the parties to be legally binding. However, if they are and there is a dispute over whether these arrangements are enforceable, the courts will attempt to determine whether the parties intended the arrangements to be legally binding or whether the arrangements only apply at the employer’s discretion

Formal policies include organisational or human resources policies that are documented in writing. These policies are usually not part of enterprise agreements but are used in conjunction with enterprise agreements
Employers and employees are generally bound by formal policies or procedures that have been agreed to at the signing of the employment contract
Formal policies are enforceable if they are intended by the parties to be legally binding.
If there is a dispute over whether these policies are enforceable, the courts will attempt to determine whether the parties intended the policies to be legally binding or whether the policies are subject to the employer’s discretion

Formal agreements are written agreements that are registered or approved by an authority or tribunal in either the federal or state workplace relations systems. The terms of these agreements usually override inferior provisions in the employee’s contract. There are two types of agreements in Queensland, including certified agreements and Queensland Workplace Agreements (QWA).

Last updated 21 July 2009

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