Cavill Power Products Pty Ltd Summary

[2013] FWCA 8799

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Cavill Power Products Pty Ltd
(AG2013/9764)

CAVILL POWER PRODUCTS PTY LTD (WHYALLA) MECHANICAL TRADES ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Manufacturing and associated industries
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT O'CALLAGHAN	ADELAIDE, 8 NOVEMBER 2013

Application for approval of the Cavill Power Products Pty Ltd (Whyalla) Mechanical Trades Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Cavill Power Products Pty Ltd (Whyalla) Mechanical Trades Enterprise Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Cavill Power Products Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] The employer has provided undertakings in the following terms:

“Annual leave for ‘shift workers’

1. To avoid doubt, any employees who meet the definition of shift worker defined in sub-clause 41.3 of the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010 (Award) will accrue additional annual leave in accordance with the Award (and the National Employment Standards) in the Act.

Minimum Payment for Trades Assistant Working Night Shift

2. All employees engaged in the classification of Trades Assistant (TA) will, for night shift worked on any Work Plans (in Appendix A ‘Wages and Allowances’ in the Agreement), be paid at the minimum classification of Level 1a, and not at the classification level of TA.”

[3] As a result, the above undertaking is taken to be a term of the Agreement. A full copy of advice provided by the employer is attached to the Agreement as Attachment 1.

[4] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 16 November 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 August 2017.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Cavill Power Products Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the Whyalla Mechanical Trades Enterprise Agreement 2013. The application was made under section 231 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute involved the terms and conditions of employment for employees of the company who were covered by the agreement.

The central legal issue before the Commission was whether the agreement met the criteria for approval as set out in the Act, particularly whether it provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment and complied with the good faith bargaining requirements. The Commission needed to consider the balance between the parties’ interests, the fairness of the proposed terms, and whether the agreement was genuinely negotiated.

The Commission determined that the agreement was fair and reasonable, and that it had been genuinely negotiated in good faith. It found that the proposed terms were consistent with the national minimum standards and that they provided for fair and reasonable working conditions. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement met the criteria for approval under the Act. As a result, the application for the agreement's approval was successful.

The Fair Work Commission approved the Whyalla Mechanical Trades Enterprise Agreement 2013. The approval took effect from the date of the Commission’s decision, and the agreement became the governing document for the employment conditions of the relevant employees.

Cavill Power Products Pty Ltd

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established