In a vote put to employees last week, 63.5 per cent of those who participated voted in favour of the agreement.

There were 498 votes for and 286 against out of a total of 1123 eligible voters, the Australian Services Union (ASU) said.

It is the second time that City of Ballarat employees voted on an agreement after management proposals were narrowly rejected in November.

The ASU urged a no vote in the original ballot and encouraged its members to reject the revised agreement, with voting finishing last Friday.

It is understood employees will gain a pay rise of two per cent for the first year of the agreement, as well as back pay.

The second year rise was set at 1.6 per cent with no increase scheduled for the following two years.

A City of Ballarat spokesperson said the rises were indexed to the rate caps put in places by the state government.

The ASU had been pushing for a wage increase of 2.5 per cent.

A union spokesperson said the union was "disappointed" with the outcome, saying "significant pressure" had been placed on employees to accept the offer.

However, the spokesperson said the agreement had brought "some improvements", including a pay increase for the lowest paid workers.

The City of Ballarat CEO Justine Linley said senior staff had "amiable and open conversations" in the run-up to the vote and the vote showed the agreement had been "very clearly welcomed across the organisation".

In a statement, Ms Linley said: "The pay rise is in line with industry standards but still allows the City of Ballarat to remain fiscally responsible to our community, particularly as we prepare for our fifth year of budgeting under a state government rate cap."

The Enterprise Bargaining Agreement will replace a previous one that was put in place in September 2017.

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