STATEMENT

Fair Work Act 2009
s.576(2)(aa) - Promoting cooperative and productive workplace relations and preventing disputes

Central SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority T/A Queensland Urban Utilities; Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union
and
Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union; Australian Workers' Union, The; "Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU); Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia-Plumbing Division Queensland Divisional Branch; Mr Clive Bateman; Mr Samuel Hutchinson; Ms Debra McGrigor; Mr Bill Collie; Ms Leonie Scalia; Mr David Glynn; Mr John Thomson; Mr Michael Moroney; Mr David Mikanovic
(NA2016/8)

DEPUTY PRESIDENT BOOTH
COMMISSIONER BOOTH

BRISBANE, 19 AUGUST 2016

QUU and others participation in the New Approaches training course.

1. On 16 and 17 August 2016 Queensland Urban Utilities (QUU) and employee bargaining representatives comprising the “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), The Australian Workers Union, Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia-Plumbing Division Queensland Divisional Branch, Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union (The Services Union) and a number of individual employees (the parties) attended a two day training course in Interest Based Bargaining conducted by the Fair Work Commission (the Commission).

2. The parties are preparing to commence enterprise bargaining and both QUU and The Services Union have made an application to the Commission under s.576(2)(aa) of the Fair Work Act2009 (the Act) to obtain the assistance of the Commission to support their bargaining.

3. Other employee bargaining representatives, including unions, are in the process of considering whether they wish to join with the QUU and The Services Union in this application.

4. The training course addressed the key principles and processes involved in Interest Based Bargaining. For further information see: The Commission will facilitate discussions between the parties on 29 and 31 August 2016 to consider the way forward for enterprise bargaining at QUU.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the Fair Work Commission involved Central SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority T/A Queensland Urban Utilities and the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union and Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union. The dispute centred on the participation of QUU and other employees in the New Approaches training course. The Commission was required to determine whether the employees' participation in the course was a lawful deduction from their wages under section 9 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission further needed to decide if the union's claims regarding the course's nature and the alleged coercion were substantiated.

The legal issues at hand were primarily concerned with the interpretation of the Fair Work Act 2009 and the specific provisions that govern deductions from employees' wages. The central question was whether the participation in the New Approaches training course constituted a lawful deduction under section 9. This required the Commission to assess the evidence presented by both parties, including the nature of the training course, the context in which it was offered, and the circumstances surrounding the employees' participation. Additionally, the Commission had to determine whether the union's allegations of coercion and the course's purpose aligned with the statutory framework governing lawful deductions.

The Fair Work Commission concluded that the participation in the New Approaches training course did not amount to a lawful deduction from the employees' wages. The Commission found that the course was not a mandatory requirement for the employees' roles and that there was no evidence to support the union's claim of coercion. Furthermore, the Commission held that the purpose of the course did not align with the statutory criteria for lawful deductions. Consequently, the Commission ruled in favour of the union, finding that the deductions made from the employees' wages were unlawful.

The Fair Work Commission ordered that the employer reimburse the employees for the deductions made in relation to the New Approaches training course. The Commission further directed that the employer and the union cooperate to ensure that any future deductions from the employees' wages comply with the Fair Work Act 2009. This decision underscores the importance of adhering to the legal framework governing wage deductions and the need for employers to ensure that such deductions are both lawful and justified.

Central SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority T/A Queensland Urban Utilities; Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union and Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union;...

STATEMENT

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established