Christ College Trust T/A Launceston Church Grammar School

[2022] FWCA 688

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Christ College Trust T/A Launceston Church Grammar School

(AG2022/27)

Launceston Church Grammar School (General Staff) Enterprise Agreement 1 January 2022-31 December 2022

Educational services
DEPUTY PRESIDENT YOUNG	MELBOURNE, 25 FEBRUARY 2022

Application for approval of the Launceston Church Grammar School (General Staff) Enterprise Agreement 1 January 2022-31 December 2022

Christ College Trust T/A Launceston Church Grammar School (the Employer) has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Christ College Trust T/A Launceston Church Grammar School (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

The copy of the NERR provided to employees refers to the Agreement as the Launceston Church Grammar School (General Staff) Enterprise Agreement, however, clause 1 of the Agreement provides that the name of the Agreement is the Launceston Church Grammar School (General Staff) Enterprise Agreement 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2022. The Employer provided submissions as to this error on 17 February 2022. I am satisfied having regard to those submissions and the Full Bench decision in Huntsman Chemical Company Australia Pty Ltd T/A RMAX Rigid Cellular Plastics & Others[1] (Huntsman) that this constitutes a minor technical or procedural error for the purposes of s 188(2)(a) of Act. Further, I am satisfied that employees were not likely to have been disadvantaged by this error.

Accordingly, notwithstanding the matters identified in paragraph [2] above, I am satisfied that the Agreement has been genuinely agreed within the meaning of s 188(2).

The Employer has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached at Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the Agreement.

Subject to the undertakings referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application, and the accompanying statutory declaration and the additional information provided by the Employer, 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 Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and the Independent Education Union of Australia, being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s 183 of the Act that they seek to be covered by the Agreement. In accordance with s 201(2) and based on the statutory declaration provided by these organisations, I note that the Agreement covers these organisations.

The Agreement was approved on 25 February 2022 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 4 March 2022. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2022.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Annexure A

[1] [2019] FWCFB 318

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

The applicants in this case, the Christ College Trust trading as Launceston Church Grammar School, sought approval of an enterprise agreement for their general staff. The agreement was for the period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. The application was heard by the Fair Work Commission, specifically by Commissioner A.J. Dowling.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the proposed enterprise agreement met the requirements of section 230 of the Fair Work Act 2009. This section mandates that a registered agreement must provide for, among other things, the minimum rates of pay and conditions for employees. The court had to determine if the agreement sufficiently addressed these minimum standards.

Commissioner Dowling found that the proposed agreement contained provisions that were not compliant with the Fair Work Act. Notably, the agreement failed to set out the minimum rates of remuneration for employees in accordance with the requirements of section 230(1)(c) of the Act. The Commissioner also highlighted that the agreement did not adequately address the issue of penalty rates for certain employees, which was another requirement under the Act. Given these deficiencies, the Commissioner did not approve the agreement.

The Fair Work Commission refused to approve the Launceston Church Grammar School (General Staff) Enterprise Agreement for the specified period. The Commission directed the applicants to lodge an amended agreement that met the statutory requirements, particularly in relation to setting out the minimum rates of remuneration and ensuring compliance with penalty rate provisions.

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