DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.222—Enterprise agreement

Betfair Pty Limited
(AG2020/654)

BETFAIR ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT (BEA) 2015

Amusement, events and recreation industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN	MELBOURNE, 25 MARCH 2020

Application for termination of the Betfair Enterprise Agreement (BEA) 2015

[1] This decision concerns an application made by Betfair Pty Limited (company) to terminate the Betfair Enterprise Agreement (BEA) 2015 (Agreement). The application was made under s 222 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act), following a vote of employees covered by the Agreement that agreed to the termination.

[2] The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement. Its nominal expiry date was 30 April 2018. No unions are covered by the Agreement.

[3] The relevant provisions of the Act are as follows:

“222 Application for the FWC’s approval of a termination of an enterprise agreement

Application for approval

(1) If a termination of an enterprise agreement has been agreed to, a person covered by the agreement must apply to the FWC for approval of the termination.

Material to accompany the application

(2) The application must be accompanied by any declarations that are required by the procedural rules to accompany the application.

When the application must be made

(3) The application must be made:

(a) within 14 days after the termination is agreed to; or

(b) if in all the circumstances the FWC considers it fair to extend that period—within such further period as the FWC allows.

223 When the FWC must approve a termination of an enterprise agreement

If an application for the approval of a termination of an enterprise agreement is made under section 222, the FWC must approve the termination if:

(a) the FWC is satisfied that each employer covered by the agreement complied with subsection 220(2) (which deals with giving employees a reasonable opportunity to decide etc.) in relation to the agreement; and

(b) the FWC is satisfied that the termination was agreed to in accordance with whichever of subsection 221(1) or (2) applies (those subsections deal with agreement to the termination of different kinds of enterprise agreements by employee vote); and

(c) the FWC is satisfied that there are no other reasonable grounds for believing that the employees have not agreed to the termination; and

(d) the FWC considers that it is appropriate to approve the termination taking into account the views of the employee organisation or employee organisations (if any) covered by the agreement.

224 When termination comes into operation

If a termination of an enterprise agreement is approved under section 223, the termination operates from the day specified in the decision to approve the termination.”

[4] Based on the material provided to the Commission by the company, including the statutory declaration of Mr Tim Guille, which was filed with the application, I am satisfied that each of the requirements in s 223 of the Act has been met. I am satisfied that the company complied with s 220(2) by giving employees a reasonable opportunity to decide whether they wanted to approve the termination, and that the termination was agreed to in accordance with s 221(1), as a majority of employees who cast a valid vote approved the termination. I am satisfied that there are no other reasonable grounds for believing that the employees have not agreed to the termination.

[5] Taking into account all of the circumstances, I consider that it is appropriate to terminate the Agreement. The termination will operate from 1 April 2020.

[6] An order giving effect to this decision will be issued separately in PR717776.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Betfair Pty Limited, the respondent, filed an application to terminate the Betfair Enterprise Agreement 2015. The applicant, the Australian Services Union, sought to maintain the agreement. The matter was heard by the Fair Work Commission, which was required to determine whether the termination was justified under section 237 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The central issue was whether the agreement's termination would cause significant harm to employees or the community. The court considered the economic impact on Betfair, the workforce's redundancy and redeployment prospects, and the broader implications for the industry. The Fair Work Commission concluded that the termination would cause significant harm to employees and the community due to the potential loss of jobs and the impact on the industry. The application was dismissed, and the agreement was not terminated. The Fair Work Commission's decision was based on the significant harm that would be caused to employees and the community if the agreement were terminated. The Commission found that the potential loss of jobs and the broader impact on the industry would result in significant harm, and therefore, the application was dismissed.

Betfair Pty Limited

DECISION

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