Bondi Junction Private Lithgow Community Private Hospital and NSWNA/ANF Enterprise Agreement 2009-1011
[2010] FWA 448
•22 JANUARY 2010
[2010] FWA 448 |
|
DECISION |
Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement
(AG2009/23453)
COMMISSIONER MCKENNA | SYDNEY, 22 JANUARY 2010 |
Bondi Junction Private Lithgow Community Private Hospital and NSWNA/ANF Enterprise Agreement 2009-2011.
[1] The employer’s declaration in support of the application for this enterprise agreement indicated at cl 1.1 that the title of the enterprise agreement is the “Bondi Junction Private Hospital Nurses Enterprise Agreement 2009- 2011”. This information is incorrect. Clause (2) of the agreement names the agreement as follows: “Bondi Junction Private Lithgow Community Private Hospital [sic] and NSWNA/ANF Enterprise Agreement 2009-2011”. Relevantly, the title within the agreement suggests the agreement had been made with the involvement of the New South Wales Nurses’ Association/Australian Nursing Federation (“NSWNA/ANF”). Moreover, in the signatures page at p48 of the agreement, the employee signatory purported to sign the agreement on the basis of the following authority: “Authority to sign Agreement on behalf of employees is in accordance with Rule 34 of the Rules of the NSWNA and Rule 40 of the Rules of the Australian Nursing Federation”. However, the employer’s declaration, at cl 2.6, otherwise indicated the employees “elected to represent themselves in the bargaining process”.
[2] On the listing of the matter today, Ms L Street of Leana Street Consulting appeared on behalf of Bondi Junction Private Hospital Pty Ltd. Mr M Wright of the NSWNA/ANF sought and was granted leave to intervene. The submissions confirmed: (a) the agreement had not been made with the involvement of the NSWNA/ANF; and (b) the employee signatory was not, in fact, a person who was relevantly authorised under the unions’ rules to sign the agreement, despite the information in the signatory page. As such, the application was plainly defective.
[3] Ms Street attributed the errors in the employer’s declaration and the signatories page to inadvertence in using a template application and agreement; and submitted the application ought still be considered as acceptable for approval. She submitted the Tribunal might correct the application and the agreement (albeit it is unclear to me on what basis it was suggested such corrections could be effected, more particularly in relation to the signatory page) and the NSWNA/ANF did not otherwise object to the approval of the corrected application. This decision notes that, on declining to accede to Ms Street’s applications in such respects, the application was withdrawn.
[4] The proceedings are concluded accordingly.
COMMISSIONER
Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer
<Price code A, PR992891>
0
0
0