Agreements made prior to 31 December 2009 (commonly referred to as ‘zombie agreements’) will automatically terminate at the end of 6 December 2023, unless an extension is granted by the Fair Work Commission (FWC).
If your business has employees who are covered by a zombie agreement, by 6 June 2023 you must notify them of that in writing and explain that the agreement will terminate unless an application to extend is made.
If you want a zombie agreement to apply after 7 December 2023, you must apply for an extension. An extension can be applied for at any time on or before 6 December 2023. The FWC can extend the termination period for up to 4 years in certain circumstances.
If you do not want the agreement to apply after 6 December 2023, you don’t have to do anything. The agreement will automatically terminate.
After a zombie agreement has ceased to operate, minimum pay and conditions will typically be set by the relevant modern award, unless a new enterprise agreement is negotiated.
The FWC has this week published a list of all zombie agreements, available at: https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/agreements/resources/zombie-agreements-list.xlsx
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