Organising voting for an enterprise agreement in Australia can be a complex process, but it is essential to ensure that employees are able to make informed decisions. This article will provide an overview of the steps that should be taken to ensure a successful vote.

Once an Enterprise Agreement reaches an ‘in theory consensus’, it should be circulated to all of the employees who will be voting on it. The employer should provide a reasonable amount of time for employees to read the agreement. This should include providing employees with a copy of the agreement, as well as offering a reasonable amount of time for employees to ask questions or raise any concerns. Many companies also include a summary of changes document to help workers understand the implications of the changes. This stage should meet Fairwork Australia’s minimum of 7 days for an access period which begins after the final changes are confirmed, and 21 days after a formal NERR (Notice of Employee Representational Rights). If an employee group or union identifies a problem in the agreement and changes need to be made during the access period, the initial dates for the ballot may need to be changed. At GoVote we do not charge any fee for date changes, and these can be made quickly and efficiently, with updated documents available to download within minutes.

When the access period begins a ballot provider should be sought and hired. At GoVote we offer a proposal document that covers all of the options and provisions for running your Enterprise Agreement vote. It answers the questions that HR personnel often ask around security, secrecy, and deliverables. When our proposal is accepted, a form is sent to the Project Manger to fill, asking the correct wording of the Enterprise Agreement title, the ballot question and contact details for key roles of ‘Voter Roll Support’ and ‘IT Technical Support’. Scrutineers can also be nominated; these are usually union representatives or employee group leaders.

As soon as dates are confirmed GoVote will provide the Project Manager with a 2 page ‘How To Vote’ Notification Letter in pdf which can be attached to internal communications and also printed and posted on notice boards around the workplace. A comprehensive Ballot Management Plan is also developed, detailing all systems utilised, copies of communications, and key dates.

The ballot period begins at the conclusion of the access period. During the access period the Voter Roll should be confirmed and checked over for eligibility and for correct contact details. Special attention should be given to casual worker’s eligibility and to any employees who have resigned but may not have been removed from lists. GoVote provides a template for the Voter Roll that includes names, email address, mobile phone number (if using SMS communications alone or in combination with SMS voting) and group information. For more detail on using groups in your ballot read this article. It is important to ensure that all employees have access to the voting process, and that any issues that arise are dealt with promptly.

During the Ballot Period it is important to ensure that the vote is conducted in a safe and secure manner. This includes ensuring that all employees are able to cast their vote without fear of intimidation or coercion. It is also important to ensure that the vote is conducted in a way that is free of fraud or interference. GoVote offers this assurance with the use of a comprehensive database scouring process to ensure no duplicates or corrupted information is included on the Voter Roll, and by offering a third party communication to all workers in a fair and transparent manner. All voters are offered the support of our 1800 number which is monitored during business hours by the Returning Officer in charge of your ballot. Being a small, independent company, GoVote is able to provide all services here in Australia with no data ever leaving Australian shores. Find more information on our Privacy Policy.

Finally the ballot outcomes are audited and verified before reports are generated and delivered. GoVote provides a certified ‘Declaration of Results’ signed by your Returning Officer, ready to hand over to Fairwork Australia. A a comprehensive Audit Report details all interactions by any client-side user, voter or the Returning Officer during the ballot period. This includes details that can help prove that all voters successfully received communications as well as any changes that were made to the Voter Roll using our Ticketing system.

By following these steps, employers can ensure that their employees are able to make an informed decision and have their voices heard. This is an essential part of the process for reaching a fair and equitable enterprise agreement.

The most secure and fair way to arrange the voting process is to engage a professional third party to run a secret ballot. This ensures that all employees are offered a safe and anonymous opportunity for representation through a straightforward, easy to navigate voting process that offers online, SMS and telephone voting options.

At GoVote our reliable and secure system is the preferred choice for HR professionals because of its ease of set up, prompt customer service and comprehensive report deliverables.

Negotiating changes to an enterprise agreement can be a lengthy process. When negotiations are done, the employees who are covered get an opportunity to vote on the proposed agreement. For an enterprise agreement to get the go ahead, a majority of employees (greater than 50% of those who voted) need to support the changes.

Most employers would be hoping to get an absolute majority of all employees covered by the agreement to support it. Things become more complicated when employee opinions are split down the middle, creating an opportunity for a ballot result to be challenged as part of the enterprise agreement approval process. This is something GoVote recently experienced.

Late last year, GoVote ran a ballot for the Commonwealth Government to determine whether or not the Commonwealth Members of Parliament Staff Enterprise Agreement 2016-2019 (the Agreement) would be accepted. This was a single enterprise agreement vote that was closely contested.

Employee participation in the ballot was 72.4% (quite high) with a total of 1,413 votes being cast. The preference distribution was 714 in favour (50.5%) and 699 against (49.5%). With a slim majority the Agreement was submitted to the Fair Work Commission.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and the Australian Services Union (ASU) were both bargaining representatives for the Agreement. Both Unions challenged the result as part of the enterprise agreement approval process at the Fair Work Commission. Their argument was that:

• Part of the the relevant pre-approval steps relating to the vote on the Agreement had not been adequately taken and therefore the result did not demonstrate that there was genuine agreement, submitting that some eligible employees were not provided with the relevant information during the ballot period and that the Applicant had failed to adequately explain the changes in the Agreement and the voting processes;
• Some staff couldn’t vote on the Agreement because of difficulties with the voting system; and
• The Agreement did not pass the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT).

Spoiler alert: the agreement was ultimately approved by the Fair Work Commission and you can read the detailed decision here. Here are three key takeaways from the experience.

It might sound obvious, but this is critical. Detailed records of the bargaining and voting process need to be kept and they are key to being able to defend yourself. If voters claim to have had problems voting, you (or your voting provider) may need to answer questions about:

• Individual voters: For example when and how did they receive voting instructions? If they had issues, who did they contact during the ballot period? When were they added to the voter roll and by whom?
• All voters: Did the support activity suggest problems with ballot access? How many voters who asked for support were subsequently able to vote? What other issues were raised during the ballot period?

It pays to have this documentation sorted in advance. Without it, a close ballot result could unravel. If you are using an electronic voting method this sort of information should be readily available.

You should remember a vote is a not a survey. People need to be able to trust the result and feel the process was run fairly. A smart vote means:

Bottom line, outsource the vote to a professional if you can afford it. They can manage all of the above. If you value your time, it is also likely to be cheaper for all but the smallest ballots.

Just like voting in a Federal election, people need to get their name marked off the “virtual” voter roll before they get access to the ballot. GoVote offers two types of ballot access. These are:

The Commonwealth elected to use employee staff numbers (aka CHRIS ID) as a verification item. As noted in the decision, some employees claimed not to be familiar with the term “CHRIS ID”, which led to some voters claiming they were unable to participate in the voting process. The key point here is that anything required to vote should be secret enough that it adds to security, but well known to the individual voter so as not to frustrate the voting process.

Are you planning a vote? Here are five quick tips to help make it a success.

Planning a vote means being across the detail. Instructions need to be issued to voters with everything they need to know to participate. These instructions should be as clear as possible, with the following things being defined at a minimum:

The best voting instructions are of little value if they’re never received. The two main options are post and email. Post is slower and more expensive, and never 100% reliable. We would recommend at least a week for delivery by post, plus time to generate the relevant documents. Email is faster, cheaper and more reliable, and it also offers the option to issue reminders throughout the voting period. In our experience, email distribution results in a higher voter participation rate.

How will people cast their votes in your election or ballot? The answer should ideally depend on the needs of your voting population. Whether it be in person, by post, or electronic, casting a vote should be convenient and easy to do. Providing a minimum of two voting channels, such as online and SMS, tends to overcome any access problems voters may have during the voting period.

We touched on voter authentication above. For more on the importance of this, see this post. Whatever is used, it is critical that authentication information is either familiar to each voter, or that voters know where to find it. Ideally, it will be in a similar format for all voters so that this can be made explicit in the voting instructions. GoVote generally recommends the combination of a PIN (generated by us) and one additional detail, such as a payroll or membership number.

Many of our clients are moving from postal voting to modern electronic voting channels. We understand the desire to make this a smooth transition, but does that mean continuing to offer postal voting as well? A good compromise is to utilise electronic voting methods but to distribute voting instructions by post. We’re yet to come across the voter who can send a letter but not utilise one of our telephone, SMS or online voting systems.