DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

City of Greater Geelong
(AG2020/3465)

CITY OF GREATER GEELONG ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT (NO.10) 2020

Local government administration
DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN	MELBOURNE, 4 DECEMBER 2020

Application for approval of the City of Greater Geelong Enterprise Agreement (No.10) 2020.

[1] The City of Greater Geelong has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the City of Greater Geelong Enterprise Agreement (No.10) 2020 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] On the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss 186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval has been met.

[3] The Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union, the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have each given notice under s 183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. In accordance with s 201(2) and based on the declarations provided by these organisations, I note that the Agreement covers these organisations.

[4] The Agreement was approved on 4 December 2020 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 11 December 2020. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2021.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The City of Greater Geelong was a party to an application before the Fair Work Commission (FWC) seeking approval of the City of Greater Geelong Enterprise Agreement (No.10) 2020. The applicant was the City of Greater Geelong and the respondents were the Australian Services Union (ASU) and the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU). The dispute centred on the terms and conditions of employment for the employees covered by the proposed agreement.

The legal issues before the FWC involved the process for approving the enterprise agreement, including whether the agreement had been made in accordance with the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009 and whether it complied with the provisions of the Act regarding procedural fairness and good faith bargaining. The FWC also had to consider whether the agreement met the criteria for approval, including whether it was in the best interests of the employees and whether it complied with the National Employment Standards.

The FWC found that the City of Greater Geelong had complied with the requirements of the Act and had negotiated the agreement in good faith. The Commission also found that the agreement met the criteria for approval, including that it was in the best interests of the employees and complied with the National Employment Standards. The FWC approved the City of Greater Geelong Enterprise Agreement (No.10) 2020, subject to certain modifications.

The FWC ordered that the City of Greater Geelong Enterprise Agreement (No.10) 2020 be approved, with modifications to certain provisions relating to redundancy payments and the classification of certain positions. The modified agreement was to be registered by the FWC and would come into effect from the date of the decision.

City of Greater Geelong

DECISION

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