Pieceworkers can be covered by an enterprise agreement. All enterprise agreements need to pass the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT) before they’re approved.

To pass the BOOT, all employees must be in a better situation under the agreement than if the award covered them.

The BOOT is applied by the Fair Work Commission at the time an agreement is made. This means that the changes made to the piecework provisions in the Horticulture Award from 28 April 2022 will have a different impact depending on when an agreement is made.

More information about making enterprise agreements is available from the Fair Work Commission.

Agreements made before 28 April 2022

If an employer had an enterprise agreement in place before 28 April 2022, it continues to apply to employees.

However, all employees covered by the agreement, including pieceworkers, are still entitled to receive a base rate of pay that’s at least equal to the base rate of pay in the Horticulture Award.

Because pieceworkers covered by the Horticulture Award are now guaranteed to earn at least the minimum rate for their classification for each hour worked, the base rate of pay for employees covered by an agreement can’t be less than that hourly rate.

Agreements made after 28 April 2022

If an employer wants to make a new enterprise agreement in the horticulture industry, the agreement will need to pass the BOOT, as discussed above.

The BOOT will be assessed against the Horticulture Award as it currently stands, including all the changed provisions applying to pieceworkers.