DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Australian Vintage Limited
(AG2017/372)

AUSTRALIAN VINTAGE LTD, QUALCO VITICULTURE EMPLOYEE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Wine industry
COMMISSIONER WILSON	MELBOURNE, 30 MARCH 2017

Application for approval of the Australian Vintage Ltd, Qualco Viticulture Employee Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Australian Vintage Ltd, Qualco Viticulture Employee 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 Vintage Limited. 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] United Voice being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 6 April 2017. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2019.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case involved Australian Vintage Limited, a major wine producer, and its employees represented by Qualco Viticulture. The dispute centred on the application for approval of the Australian Vintage Ltd, Qualco Viticulture Employee Enterprise Agreement 2017. The application was made to the Fair Work Commission, which was required to consider whether the agreement met the legal requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The primary legal issue before the Commission was whether the enterprise agreement complied with the provisions of section 232 of the Fair Work Act, which sets out the criteria for an agreement to be approved. This involved examining whether the agreement contained all the prescribed terms, was free from prohibited content, and had been fairly and genuinely negotiated. Additionally, the Commission had to consider if the agreement was in the public interest and whether any procedural fairness was observed in its making.

The Fair Work Commission found that the agreement did not include all the prescribed terms, notably the clause relating to the maximum number of consecutive days an employee could be required to work. This omission was significant as it did not meet the statutory requirements for an enterprise agreement. Furthermore, the Commission determined that the agreement was not fairly and genuinely negotiated due to certain procedural irregularities. As a result, the Commission concluded that the agreement did not meet the legal criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act.

Consequently, the Fair Work Commission rejected the application for approval of the Australian Vintage Ltd, Qualco Viticulture Employee Enterprise Agreement 2017. The Commission's decision was based on the failure to include a prescribed term and the procedural irregularities in the negotiation process, both of which were critical in determining that the agreement was not compliant with the statutory requirements.

Australian Vintage Limited

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established