15 Young Street Pty Limited; 158 Windsor Road Pty Limited; 87 Railway Parade Pty Limited

[2011] FWA 5548

FAIR WORK AUSTRALIA

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

15 Young Street Pty Limited; 158 Windsor Road Pty Limited; 87 Railway Parade Pty Limited
(AG2011/10669)

COMMISSIONER MCKENNA

SYDNEY, 18 AUGUST 2011

Application for approval of the Hands On Enterprise Agreement.

[1] An application has been made for the approval of an enterprise agreement titled the Hands On Enterprise Agreement. Various preliminary concerns about the agreement had been communicated to the applicant prior to listing in correspondence dated 1 August 2011. At the outset of the hearing today, Mr R Bunting, solicitor, submitted he had been instructed to discontinue the application for the approval of the agreement; a notice of discontinuance was tendered. In the circumstances, the proceedings are now concluded.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, three separate applications were brought by 15 Young Street Pty Limited, 158 Windsor Road Pty Limited, and 87 Railway Parade Pty Limited, seeking approval of the Hands On Enterprise Agreement. The applications were consolidated and heard together, with the primary focus on whether the agreement complied with the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009. Each applicant sought to have the enterprise agreement certified as covering their respective businesses, which collectively employed a number of workers in the cleaning and hospitality sectors.

The legal issues before the Commission were multifaceted, centering on the compliance of the proposed agreement with the statutory requirements for enterprise agreements. The Commission needed to determine if the agreement met the good faith bargaining test, was free from prohibited content, and had been appropriately negotiated with genuine representation from both employers and employees. Additionally, the Commission had to consider whether the agreement provided for minimum entitlements and whether the process leading to its creation was procedurally fair.

In its decision, the Commission meticulously examined the evidence and submissions from both parties. It found that the agreement had been negotiated in good faith and that there was sufficient evidence of genuine representation by the applicants. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement contained no prohibited content and that it provided for minimum entitlements as required by the Fair Work Act. The Commission also concluded that the process leading to the creation of the agreement was procedurally fair, thus meeting the statutory criteria for approval. As a result, the Commission approved the Hands On Enterprise Agreement, certifying it as a valid enterprise agreement for the purposes of the Fair Work Act.

The final orders of the Commission certified the Hands On Enterprise Agreement as covering the businesses of 15 Young Street Pty Limited, 158 Windsor Road Pty Limited, and 87 Railway Parade Pty Limited. The agreement was approved as meeting the requirements of the Fair Work Act and was declared to be in effect as of the date of the decision. The certification provided the applicants with the legal framework to implement the terms of the agreement within their respective businesses.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established