DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd T/A Sanitarium Health & Wellbeing Company
(AG2017/5016)

SANITARIUM HEALTH AND WELLBEING COMPANY MOOROOKA ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing industry
COMMISSIONER MCKINNON	MELBOURNE, 12 DECEMBER 2017

Application for approval of the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company Moorooka Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company Moorooka Enterprise Agreement 2017 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd trading as Sanitarium Health & Wellbeing Company. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[4] Pursuant to s.205(2) of the Act, the model consultation term prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 19 December 2017. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 11 December 2021.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

ANNEXURE A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The parties involved in this case were the Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd trading as Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company (the employer) and the Sanitarium Workers Union (the union). The dispute centred around the application for approval of the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company Moorooka Enterprise Agreement 2017. The matter was heard in the Fair Work Commission, Australia's industrial relations tribunal.

The primary legal issue the court needed to determine was whether the enterprise agreement in question complied with the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009. This included assessing whether the agreement was made in good faith and whether it contained the necessary minimum terms and conditions as stipulated by the Act. Furthermore, the court had to consider if the agreement had been fairly negotiated and whether it provided for the appropriate mechanisms for resolving disputes.

The Fair Work Commission found that the agreement was indeed made in good faith and contained all the necessary minimum terms and conditions as required by the Fair Work Act 2009. The court was satisfied that the agreement had been fairly negotiated and included adequate mechanisms for resolving disputes. Consequently, the court approved the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company Moorooka Enterprise Agreement 2017. This decision was based on the evidence presented and the findings that the agreement met all the legal requirements for approval.

Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd T/A Sanitarium Health & Wellbeing Company

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established