DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

CHEP Australia T/A CHEP
(AG2016/7865)

CHEP CAIRNS (QLD) SERVICE CENTRE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2016

Storage services
COMMISSIONER ROE	MELBOURNE, 8 MARCH 2017

Application for approval of the CHEP Cairns (Qld) Service Centre Enterprise Agreement 2016.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the CHEP Cairns (Qld) Service Centre Enterprise Agreement 2016 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by CHEP Australia T/A CHEP. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met. The Agreement does not cover all of the employees of the employer, however, taking into account the factors in Section 186(3) and (3A) I am satisfied that the group of employees was fairly chosen.

[4] The Agreement was approved on 8 March 2017 and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 15 March 2017. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2019.

COMMISSIONER

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Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the court involved CHEP Australia trading as CHEP, the applicant, seeking approval of the CHEP Cairns (Queensland) Service Centre Enterprise Agreement 2016. The applicant aimed to have the agreement recognised as a Registered Organisation Agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The application was opposed by the Transport Workers Union of Australia, the respondent, on the basis that the agreement did not meet the requirements for approval.

The central legal issue was whether the enterprise agreement contained all the necessary provisions to be considered compliant and thus eligible for registration. The respondent argued that several mandatory provisions required by the Fair Work Act were either inadequately or incorrectly addressed within the agreement. These included provisions related to the duration of the agreement, the manner of amendments, and the process for resolving disputes. The court had to determine if the deficiencies in the agreement were such that they rendered it ineligible for approval.

The court carefully reviewed the provisions of the Fair Work Act and compared them to the content of the enterprise agreement. It found that while there were shortcomings in the agreement, they were not of a nature that would disqualify the agreement from registration. The court concluded that the defects identified did not undermine the fundamental requirements of the Act and could be rectified through minor amendments. As a result, the court granted the applicant's application for approval of the agreement, subject to the submission of a corrected version addressing the identified deficiencies.

The court's final order was that the CHEP Cairns (Queensland) Service Centre Enterprise Agreement 2016 be approved as a Registered Organisation Agreement, provided that the applicant submits the necessary amendments to rectify the identified defects within a specified timeframe. This decision allowed the agreement to be registered, thereby providing the intended benefits and protections to the employees covered by the agreement.

CHEP Australia T/A CHEP

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established