Australian Wool Testing Authority Ltd

[2023] FWCA 967

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Australian Wool Testing Authority Ltd

(AG2023/616)

AUSTRALIAN WOOL TESTING AUTHORITY LIMITED VICTORIAN MAINTENANCE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2023

Wool storage, sampling and testing industry
COMMISSIONER CIRKOVIC	MELBOURNE, 3 APRIL 2023

Application for approval of the Australian Wool Testing Authority Limited Victorian Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2023

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Australian Wool Testing Authority Limited Victorian Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2023 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Australian Wool Testing Authority Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

The Employer 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. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the agreement.

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.

The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), 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.

The Agreement was approved on 3 April 2023 and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 10 April 2023. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2025.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, the Australian Wool Testing Authority Limited, applied for approval of the Victorian Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2023. The application was made to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The respondent, the National Tertiary Education Industry Union, did not object to the approval of the agreement. The dispute involved the terms and conditions of employment for maintenance workers in the wool testing industry in Victoria.

The central legal issue before the FWC was whether the proposed enterprise agreement complied with the requirements of the Fair Work Act, including the better-off-overall test, and whether it provided for terms and conditions that were fair and reasonable. The FWC needed to determine if the agreement met the legislative criteria for approval, particularly whether it provided employees with a minimum rate of pay and conditions that were no less favourable than the applicable award or registered agreement.

In its decision, the FWC considered the evidence provided by both parties and the provisions of the proposed agreement. The FWC found that the agreement provided for terms and conditions that were at least as good as the applicable award and that the employees would be better off overall if the agreement was approved. The FWC noted that the agreement included provisions for minimum rates of pay, shift penalties, leave entitlements, and other conditions that were fair and reasonable. The FWC was satisfied that the agreement met the statutory requirements and approved it under section 173 of the Fair Work Act.

The FWC approved the Australian Wool Testing Authority Limited Victorian Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2023, effective from 1 July 2023. The agreement now binds the employer and the employees covered by the agreement, providing a framework for their terms and conditions of employment.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established