4 yearly review of modern awards – General Retail Award 2010 – Substantive issues

The Fair Work Commission was reviewing the General Retail Industry Award 2010 (Retail Award). The review process involved parties submitting claims regarding changes to the award. The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and an individual, S Barridge, made submissions seeking changes to the award. The Commission directed parties to confirm which substantive claims they wished to pursue, with a deadline for filing these submissions. The Commission also noted that decisions in other related cases and the commencement of proceedings on the plain language re-drafting of the Retail Award could impact the current review process.

The central legal issue before the Commission was determining which substantive claims regarding changes to the Retail Award the parties wished to pursue. This involved reviewing the submissions made by the SDA and S Barridge and deciding which claims were still active after considering the outcomes of related cases and proceedings. The Commission also had to set a deadline for parties to confirm their substantive claims and determine how to proceed with any claims that were not actively pursued.

The Commission outlined a process for finalising the list of substantive issues in relation to the review of the Retail Award. It directed parties to file short submissions confirming the substantive claims they wished to pursue, with a deadline of 4.00 pm on 7 December 2017. The Commission noted that it would proceed on the basis that any claims not actively pursued after this deadline were no longer being pressed. The Commission also announced the constitution of a Full Bench to deal with any residual substantive claims after the deadline. The Commission's decision provided clarity on the process for finalising substantive claims in the review of the Retail Award.

The Commission's final orders included a direction for parties to file short submissions confirming the substantive claims they wished to pursue by 4.00 pm on 7 December 2017. The Commission also announced the constitution of a Full Bench to deal with any residual substantive claims after this deadline. The Commission made it clear that it would proceed on the basis that any claims not actively pursued after the deadline were no longer being pressed.