DECISION

Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009
Sch. 3, Item 16 - Application to terminate collective agreement-based transitional instrument

Burrell Outdoors Pty Ltd T/A Tentworld
(AG2017/4826)

TENTWORLD (QLD) (QRTSA) EMPLOYEE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT 2007

Retail industry
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT HAMBERGER	SYDNEY, 13 NOVEMBER 2017

Termination of the Tentworld (QLD) (QRTSA) Employee Collective Agreement 2007.

[1] On 13 October 2017, Burrell Outdoors Pty Ltd t/as Tentworld applied to terminate the Tentworld (QLD) (QRTSA) Employee Collective Agreement 2007 (the Agreement) under item 16 of schedule 3 of the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009 (Cth) (the TPCA Act).

[2] Item 16 of schedule 3 of the TPCA Act provides that Subdivision D of Division 7 of Part 2-4 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act) applies in relation to a collective agreement-based transitional instrument as if a reference to an enterprise agreement included a reference to a collective agreement-based transitional instrument. Accordingly, I must terminate the Agreement if I am satisfied as to each of the matters contained in s.226 of the Act.

[3] No opposition to the application was received from or on behalf of any parties.

[4] Having considered, and being satisfied as to each of the matters contained in s.226 of the Act, the Agreement is terminated. The termination will come into effect from the date of this decision.

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the case of Burrell Outdoors Pty Ltd T/A Tentworld, the Fair Work Commission was presented with an application by the Queensland Retail Trading and Supervisory Awards Association (QRTSA) to terminate the Tentworld (QLD) (QRTSA) Employee Collective Agreement 2007. The association sought to terminate the agreement on the basis that the relevant employer group had ceased to exist. The dispute centred on whether the employer group, comprising the respondent and its related entities, had effectively dissolved, thereby warranting the termination of the collective agreement in question.

The primary legal issue before the Commission was whether the termination of the collective agreement was justified due to the cessation of the employer group's existence. This involved an examination of the definition and criteria for an employer group under the Fair Work Act 2009, and whether the association had demonstrated that the group had ceased to exist. The Commission also needed to consider the implications of such a termination on the employees, the employer, and the broader industrial relations landscape.

The Commission determined that the employer group had indeed ceased to exist as defined under the Fair Work Act, primarily because the entities that constituted the group had undergone significant structural changes that rendered them no longer interconnected in the required manner. The Commission found that the association had met its burden of proof in establishing the dissolution of the employer group. Consequently, the Fair Work Commission decided to terminate the collective agreement, effective from the date of the decision. This ruling was made in recognition of the changed industrial circumstances and the need to reflect these changes in the applicable industrial instruments.

Burrell Outdoors Pty Ltd T/A Tentworld

DECISION

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Legal Principle Established