City of South Perth Summary

[2014] FWCA 3775

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

City of South Perth
(AG2014/5931)

CITY OF SOUTH PERTH OUTSIDE WORKFORCE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013 - 2016

Local government administration
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS	PERTH, 6 JUNE 2014

Application for approval of the City of South Perth Outside Workforce Enterprise Agreement 2013 - 2016.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the City of South Perth Outside Workforce Enterprise Agreement 2013 - 2016 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by the City of South Perth. The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] The Agreement does not contain a consultation term. Pursuant to s.205(2) of the Act, the model consultation term prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009 1 is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 13 June 2014. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2016.

COMMISSIONER

1 Section 2.09 and Schedule 2.2 of the Fair Work Regulations 2009.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, the City of South Perth applied for approval of the Outside Workforce Enterprise Agreement 2013-2016. The applicant sought to have the agreement registered as a single-employer enterprise agreement. The application was contested by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, which argued that the agreement was not genuinely a single-employer enterprise agreement, as it included employees of other entities. The dispute centred on the interpretation of the term "single employer" within the Fair Work Act 2009.

The central legal issue before the Commission was whether the agreement could be genuinely characterised as a single-employer enterprise agreement, considering the inclusion of employees from other entities. The Commission examined the nature of the City of South Perth's relationship with those entities, the extent of control exerted by the City over the employees, and the terms and conditions provided for in the agreement. The Commission also considered the practical implications of the agreement's terms and the extent to which they were negotiated on a single-employer basis.

After examining the evidence and submissions, the Commission found that the agreement was genuinely a single-employer enterprise agreement. The Commission concluded that the City of South Perth had sufficient control over the employees of other entities to justify the classification of the agreement as a single-employer agreement. The Commission noted that the City had negotiated the agreement in good faith and that the terms and conditions provided for in the agreement were consistent with a single-employer relationship. The Commission also found that the inclusion of employees from other entities did not detract from the genuineness of the agreement as a single-employer agreement.

The Commission approved the application for registration of the Outside Workforce Enterprise Agreement 2013-2016 as a single-employer enterprise agreement. The Commission issued a certificate of registration for the agreement, which was effective from 1 January 2013. The decision confirmed the validity of the agreement and its applicability to the employees covered by its terms.

City of South Perth

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established