Northern Rivers County Council (Undertaking Acquisition) Act 1981

This Act may be cited as the Northern Rivers County Council (Undertaking Acquisition) Act 1981.

In this Act:

agreement means the indenture dated 15 July 1958, made between The Southern Electric Authority of Queensland and the Council of the Shire of Tweed, as varied by:

the assignment dated 27 May 1977, and made between The Southern Electric Authority of Queensland and The South East Queensland Electricity Board,

section 10 of the County Districts Reconstitution Act 1979, and

any other agreement made between The South East Queensland Electricity Board and the County Council.

appointed day means the day that is 1 month after the day fixed pursuant to the agreement for the acquisition of the undertaking by the County Council.

County Council means the Northern Rivers County Council.

previous service, in relation to a transferred servant, means service during the employment of the transferred servant in the electricity supply industry within the meaning of section 346 of the Queensland Act.

the Queensland Act means the Electricity Act 1976, of the Parliament of the State of Queensland, as amended by subsequent Acts of that Parliament.

transferred servant means a person who, pursuant to section 4 (2), is transferred to the service of the County Council.

undertaking means the electricity undertaking which under the agreement may be acquired by the County Council.

This Act shall be construed with and as part of the Local Government Act 1919, but this Act has effect notwithstanding anything in the Local Government Act 1919 or the agreement.

The County Council shall have, and shall be deemed always to have had, the power to do anything necessary to be done in the State of Queensland (including the purchase of land in that State) for the purposes of acquiring and of controlling and managing the undertaking.

The persons who, on the day fixed pursuant to the agreement for the acquisition of the undertaking by the County Council:

are servants of The South East Queensland Electricity Board, and

are wholly or principally employed on or in connection with the undertaking,

may, by a notice in writing served on the County Council before the appointed day, elect to transfer to the service of the County Council.

A person who elects to transfer to the service of the County Council in accordance with subsection (1) shall, on the appointed day:

be transferred to the service of the County Council,

become a servant of the County Council, and

subject to this Act, be deemed to have been appointed and employed by the County Council.

A transferred servant shall, on and from the appointed day and until otherwise directed by the County Council, continue to perform the duties which attached to his employment immediately before the appointed day.

A transferred servant shall, subject to Part 5 of the Industrial Arbitration Act 1940, be remunerated by the County Council on terms not less advantageous than those on which he was remunerated by The South East Queensland Electricity Board immediately before the appointed day.

Subject to subsection (2), a transferred servant may not, without his consent, be required by the County Council to be based, as a servant of the County Council, at a place which is outside the State of Queensland and outside the Shire of Tweed.

Where a transferred servant has once given an unconditional consent for the purposes of subsection (1), that subsection ceases to apply to him.

The employment of a transferred servant may not be terminated by the County Council on the ground of redundancy arising from the acquisition of the undertaking.

Subject to this Act, where any condition of employment of any transferred servant is, immediately before the appointed day, regulated by an award or industrial agreement (whether under the law of the State of New South Wales or not), the condition shall continue to be so regulated until it is varied or altered by an award that is made by a competent tribunal and that binds the County Council or by an industrial agreement to which the County Council is a party.

The period of previous service of a transferred servant shall, upon his transfer to the service of the County Council, be counted as service with the County Council for the purposes of any Act or of any ordinance, regulation or by-law or of the terms and conditions of any staff agreement or of any award or agreement made under the Industrial Arbitration Act 1940.

The transfer of a transferred servant to the service of the County Council shall not affect any right to leave (including long service leave) of absence accrued prior to the appointed day.

If:

the employment of any transferred servant is terminated by the County Council, otherwise than for misconduct, within the period of 2 years after the appointed day, or

any transferred servant resigns his position with the County Council within the period commencing l year after, and ending 2 years after, the appointed day and the County Council has prior to the date on which his resignation was tendered failed to offer him in writing continuous employment at a salary or wage at least equal to that received by him immediately prior to the appointed day, and that failure is not occasioned by his misconduct,

the County Council shall grant to the transferred servant a gratuity equivalent to the amount of 4 weeks’ salary or wages for each year of his previous service and of his service with the County Council, such salary or wages being reckoned on the average of the weekly salary or wages paid to that servant during the 52 weeks immediately preceding the appointed day.

Nothing in subsection (1) shall require the County Council to offer any transferred servant employment beyond the date fixed for retirement by the Local Government Act 1919.

The amount of any gratuity payable under subsection (1) to a transferred servant shall not in any case exceed an amount being the equivalent of the salary and wages (reckoned on the average of the weekly salary or wages paid to the transferred servant during the 52 weeks immediately preceding the appointed day) which the transferred servant would have received if he had continued in his previous service until the age of 65 years.

This section shall not apply to a transferred servant unless he has been employed continuously in his previous service for a period of not less than 1 year immediately preceding the appointed day.

Nothing in this section affects the operation of sections 6 and 7.

Where:

a transferred servant was, in respect of his previous service, engaged under a contract of service which provides for payment of compensation in the event of the termination of his employment, and

the employment of the transferred servant is, before the expiration of the period of the contract, terminated by the County Council otherwise than in accordance with the terms of the contract,

the County Council shall pay to the transferred servant the amount of compensation provided for in the contract, and if the amount of the compensation is less than the amount that would be payable to the transferred servant under section 10, shall also pay to the transferred servant a gratuity equal to the difference.

A transferred servant who is entitled to receive any compensation or compensation and gratuity under subsection (1) shall not be entitled to receive a gratuity under section 10.

The Local Government Superannuation Board shall, as soon as practicable after the date of assent to this Act and before the appointed day, inform each person who, in its opinion, is wholly or principally employed by The South East Queensland Electricity Board on or in connection with the undertaking of his entitlements under section 14 should he elect to come under the provisions of Part 3D of the Local Government and Other Authorities (Superannuation) Act 1927.

Nothing done or omitted to be done pursuant to subsection (1) prejudices any determination to be made by the Local Government Superannuation Board under section 14.