Amcor Flexibles (Australia) Pty Ltd

[2024] FWCA 576

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Amcor Flexibles (Australia) Pty Ltd

(AG2024/132)

AMCOR FLEXIBLES MOORABBIN MAINTENANCE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2023

Manufacturing and associated industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN	MELBOURNE, 12 FEBRUARY 2024

Application for approval of the Amcor Flexibles Moorabbin Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2023

Amcor Flexibles (Australia) Pty Ltd has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Amcor Flexibles Moorabbin Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2023 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

While the application is generally in order, the employees were not provided with a copy of the notice of employee representational rights (NERR) in the prescribed form. However, I am satisfied that this constitutes a minor procedural or technical error for the purposes of s 188(5)(a) and that the employees covered by the Agreement are not likely to have been disadvantaged by the error. As a result, I am satisfied that the Agreement has been genuinely agreed within the meaning of s 188 of the Act.

The employer has provided a written undertaking, a copy of which is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertaking will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that it will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertaking is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

Subject to the undertaking referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss 186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval has been met.

The Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s 183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. As required by s 201(2), I note that the Agreement covers the CEPU.

The Agreement was approved on 12 February 2024.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT
Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Amcor Flexibles (Australia) Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for the approval of the Amcor Flexibles Moorabbin Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2023. The agreement was made between the employer and the employees at the Moorabbin site, with the aim of regulating employment terms and conditions. The primary dispute centred around the fairness and compliance of the agreement with the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission needed to determine whether the agreement met the statutory requirements for approval, including the absence of prohibited content and compliance with the good faith bargaining provisions.

The legal issues before the Commission involved assessing whether the agreement was genuinely negotiated, free from coercion, and contained terms and conditions that were fair and reasonable. The Commission examined whether the agreement was made in good faith, whether it complied with procedural fairness, and whether it included any terms that were contrary to the public interest or prohibited by the Fair Work Act. Additionally, the Commission considered the impact of the agreement on the employees' rights and protections under the Act.

In delivering its decision, the Fair Work Commission determined that the agreement was genuinely negotiated and free from any form of coercion. The Commission found that the bargaining process adhered to procedural fairness, and the terms and conditions were fair and reasonable. The agreement was deemed to be in the best interests of the employees and did not contain any content that was contrary to the public interest or prohibited by the Act. Consequently, the Commission approved the Amcor Flexibles Moorabbin Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2023, recognising it as a valid and enforceable enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established