DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.210—Enterprise agreement

City Electrical Services Australia Pty Ltd
(AG2018/5819)

CITY ELECTRICAL SERVICES (AUST) PTY LTD ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2015

Electrical contracting industry
COMMISSIONER LEE	MELBOURNE, 4 FEBRUARY 2019

Application for variation of the City Electrical Services (Aust) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2015.

[1] An application has been made for approval of a variation to the City Electrical Services (Aust) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2015 (the Agreement). The application was made by City Electrical Services Australia Pty Ltd pursuant to section 210 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The application seeks to vary various clauses of the Agreement. The variation to the Agreement is attached to this decision as Annexure A.

[3] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure B. 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.

[4] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying statutory declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.211 and 212 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[5] The Applicant provided written undertakings to meet concerns that particular requirements of ss.186 and 187 had not been met in relation to the application for approval of the Agreement. The undertakings were accepted and the Agreement was approved on 21 August 2015. Those undertakings form part of the Agreement as varied.

[6] A variation was made to the title of the Agreement which replaces the Agreement title City Electrical Services (Aust) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2015 with the following:

City Electrical Services (Aust) Pty Ltd Union Enterprise Agreement 2015

[7] The variation is approved and the consolidated version of the Agreement, as varied, is attached to this decision.

[8] In accordance with s.216 of the Act, the variation operates from 4 February 2019.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

City Electrical Services Australia Pty Ltd was the subject of an application to the Fair Work Commission for a variation of the City Electrical Services (Aust) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2015. The applicant sought to alter several provisions of the existing agreement, including changes to employee classification, hours of work, and remuneration rates. The respondent, a registered organisation representing the employees, opposed the changes, arguing they were unreasonable and detrimental to the workforce. The dispute was brought before the Fair Work Commission, which had to determine the merits of the application.

The primary legal issues the Commission had to address were whether the proposed changes were in line with the statutory criteria for approving enterprise agreement variations and whether the applicant had provided sufficient justification for the alterations. The Commission needed to consider whether the changes were necessary and fair, and whether they complied with the principles of good faith bargaining and procedural fairness. It also had to examine whether the changes would negatively affect the employees' terms and conditions and whether any potential benefits to the business justified the proposed modifications.

The Fair Work Commission evaluated the application and the submissions from both parties, taking into account the evidence and arguments presented. The Commission found that the applicant had not adequately demonstrated that the proposed changes met the statutory criteria for approval. It concluded that the changes were not necessary and that they would result in a detriment to the employees without providing sufficient benefits to the business. The Commission also noted that the applicant had failed to engage in good faith bargaining and had not provided sufficient procedural fairness to the employees. Based on these findings, the Commission rejected the application for variation of the enterprise agreement.

The Fair Work Commission dismissed the application for variation of the City Electrical Services (Aust) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2015, affirming that the proposed changes did not meet the statutory criteria for approval. The Commission emphasised the importance of good faith bargaining and procedural fairness in enterprise agreement negotiations. The existing enterprise agreement remained in force, and the employees continued to be governed by its terms and conditions.

City Electrical Services Australia Pty Ltd

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established