DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

APT AM Employment Pty Limited
(AG2015/734)

APA NETWORKS AGREEMENT (QLD) 2015

Oil and gas industry
COMMISSIONER SIMPSON	BRISBANE, 7 APRIL 2015

Application for approval of the APA Networks Agreement (Qld) 2015.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the APA Networks Agreement (Qld) 2015 (the Agreement). The Application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by APT AM Employment Pty 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] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), and Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU) being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s.183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. In accordance with s.201(2) of the Act, I note that the Agreement covers these organisations.

[4] The Agreement is approved and will operate in accordance with s.54 of the Act.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The parties involved in this case were APT AM Employment Pty Limited and the Fair Work Commission. The dispute centred around the approval of the APA Networks Agreement (Qld) 2015, which was a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The matter was heard by the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the agreement contained provisions that were contrary to the public interest, specifically provisions that would allow the employer to pay a lower wage to employees who were previously employed by a merged entity. The court needed to determine if these provisions breached section 232 of the Fair Work Act, which prohibits agreements that unfairly discriminate against employees.

The court found that the provisions in question did indeed unfairly discriminate against the employees by allowing the employer to pay them less than the applicable award or registered agreement rate. The court concluded that these provisions were contrary to the public interest and therefore invalid under section 232 of the Fair Work Act. The court did not approve the agreement as it stood and required the parties to rectify these provisions to bring the agreement into compliance with the Act.

As a result of the court's decision, the agreement was not approved in its current form. The court mandated that the parties revise the agreement to remove the discriminatory provisions and resubmit it for approval. The court did not issue any further orders beyond the requirement for the agreement to be amended and resubmitted.

APT AM Employment Pty Limited

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established