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More than a dozen enterprise agreements approved in the past few months contain an "ingenious" clause designed to increase union membership, but workplace lawyers question whether it will "stand the test of time".

The "productivity allowance" clause is being peddled by the NSW branch of the Electrical Trades Union, and it entitles eligible employees to receive an extra $3.70 an hour (equating to about $130 a week), say Kingston Reid partners Shelley Williams and Brendan Milne.

"But there's a catch, and it's a big one," Williams says. "Only employees who have successfully completed an 'agreement interpretation course' each year get the payment."...