DECISION

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

Adelaide Brighton Cement Ltd
(AG2015/3049)

ADELAIDE BRIGHTON CEMENT KLEIN POINT MINE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2015

Mining industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT BARTEL	ADELAIDE, 9 JULY 2015

Application for approval of the Adelaide Brighton Cement Klein Point Mine Enterprise Agreement 2015.

[1] An application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Adelaide Brighton Cement Klein Point Mine Enterprise Agreement 2015 (the Agreement) has been made by Adelaide Brighton Cement Ltd (the employer). The application has been made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) and is an application for a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] Clause 35 of the Agreement dealing with the introduction of change does not meet the statutory requirements for consultation with employees in relation to changes to regular rosters or ordinary hours of work. 1 Accordingly, the model Consultation Term will be taken to be a term of the Agreement.2 The Agreement does not contain a flexibility term and the model Flexibility Term will apply.3 The model terms are attached to the Agreement as Schedule A and Schedule B.

[3] The employer has provided undertakings in response to concerns raised that certain annual leave provisions in the Agreement do not comply with the National Employment Standards and that the rates of pay that can be negotiated under the Flexible Remuneration provision in Clause 40 of the Agreement could potentially fall below the relevant modern award rates of pay. The undertakings provided by the employer meet the identified concerns and otherwise meet the requirements of s.190 of the Act. The undertakings are attached to this decision and are taken to be terms of the Agreement.

[4] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 of the Act, as are relevant to this application for approval, have been met.

[5] The Agreement is approved. In accordance with s.54(1) of the Act the Agreement will operate from 16 July 2015. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2018.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

1 Section 205(1)(a)(ii) of the Act

2 Section 203(2)(a) of the Act

3 Section 202(4) of the Act

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Adelaide Brighton Cement Limited applied to the Federal Circuit Court for approval of the Adelaide Brighton Cement Klein Point Mine Enterprise Agreement 2015. The matter involved a dispute regarding the approval of the enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The applicant, Adelaide Brighton Cement, sought to have the agreement certified as a registered enterprise agreement, which would provide it with legal enforceability.

The primary legal issue the court had to decide was whether the enterprise agreement met the requirements of section 231 of the Fair Work Act, which sets out the criteria for an enterprise agreement to be registered. Specifically, the court had to determine if the agreement was fairly negotiated, contained only matters that are expressly permitted by the Act, and complied with other statutory provisions.

The court examined the process of negotiation and the content of the agreement, confirming that it was fairly negotiated and that all matters contained within it were permissible under the Act. The court was satisfied that the agreement complied with all relevant statutory requirements. Consequently, the court approved the enterprise agreement and certified it as a registered enterprise agreement under section 231(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009. The final orders confirmed the registration and enforceability of the Adelaide Brighton Cement Klein Point Mine Enterprise Agreement 2015.

Adelaide Brighton Cement Ltd

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established