Cleanaway Operations Pty Ltd T/A Cleanaway

[2023] FWCA 276

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Cleanaway Operations Pty Ltd T/A Cleanaway

(AG2022/5606)

CLEANAWAY SWS C&I MELBOURNE METRO SOUTH ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2022

Waste management industry
COMMISSIONER JOHNS	MELBOURNE, 27 JANUARY 2023

Application for approval of the Cleanaway SWS C&I Melbourne Metro South Enterprise Agreement 2022

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Cleanaway SWS C&I Melbourne Metro South Enterprise Agreement 2022 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Cleanaway Operations Pty Ltd T/A Cleanaway. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

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

The Transport Workers’ Union of Australia being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 3 February 2023. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 1 December 2025.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In this matter, Cleanaway Operations Pty Ltd, trading as Cleanaway, applied for approval of the Cleanaway SWS C&I Melbourne Metro South Enterprise Agreement 2022, which was to govern the employment terms and conditions of its employees in the Melbourne Metro South region. The application was made to the Fair Work Commission, which holds jurisdiction over enterprise agreements under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The central legal issue the Commission needed to determine was whether the proposed agreement was a genuine enterprise agreement, as defined in the Act, and whether it met the statutory requirements for approval. This included assessing whether the agreement had been made without coercion, contained the minimum terms and conditions set out in the Act, and was certified as a single, indivisible agreement by an independent certifier.

The Commission found that the agreement had been made without coercion, as evidenced by the thorough process of consultation and negotiation between Cleanaway and its employees. The agreement was certified as meeting the minimum terms and conditions, and the Commission was satisfied that it was a single, indivisible agreement. Consequently, the Commission approved the Cleanaway SWS C&I Melbourne Metro South Enterprise Agreement 2022, and it will now govern the employment of the relevant employees in accordance with the Fair Work Act.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established