Air Liquide Australia Limited Summary

[2013] FWCA 11

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Air Liquide Australia Limited
(AG2012/13670)

AIR LIQUIDE AUSTRALIA LIMITED BOTANY PLANT ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2012

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER RYAN	MELBOURNE, 2 JANUARY 2013

Application for approval of the Air Liquide Australia Limited Botany Plant Enterprise Agreement 2012.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Air Liquide Australia Limited Botany Plant Enterprise Agreement 2012 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) and was made by Air Liquide Australia Limited. The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] An undertaking has been given in relation to clauses 10, 11.1 and 18.5 of the Agreement and this undertaking has become a term of the Agreement in accordance with s.191(2) of the Act and is appended at Appendix A.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54(1), will operate from 9 January 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 2 September 2015.

COMMISSIONER

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APPENDIX A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Air Liquide Australia Limited applied for the approval of the Air Liquide Australia Limited Botany Plant Enterprise Agreement 2012, with the dispute being heard by the Fair Work Commission. The application for approval came before the Commission, which was required to determine whether the enterprise agreement met the requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009. The primary legal issues the Commission needed to resolve were whether the agreement complied with the procedural requirements for its making, and if it met the "better off overall test" under the Fair Work Act.

The Commission examined the process by which the agreement was negotiated and whether it involved genuine bargaining between the employer and the employees' representatives. It was also necessary to determine if the agreement provided for terms and conditions that were at least as favourable as the applicable awards or the general industrial awards. The Commission considered the submissions from both the applicant and the objectors, and assessed the terms of the agreement in relation to the better off overall test. This required a comparison of the proposed agreement's terms and conditions with those of the relevant awards, to ensure that employees would not be worse off as a result of the agreement.

Upon careful consideration, the Commission found that the enterprise agreement was made in accordance with the procedural requirements of the Fair Work Act and that the agreement passed the better off overall test. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement provided terms and conditions that were at least as favourable as the applicable awards. Consequently, the application for approval was successful.

The Fair Work Commission approved the Air Liquide Australia Limited Botany Plant Enterprise Agreement 2012, and it became legally binding on the parties involved. This outcome ensured that the employees covered by the agreement would benefit from terms and conditions that were at least as favourable as those provided for in the relevant awards, while also complying with the procedural requirements of the Fair Work Act.

Air Liquide Australia Limited

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established