DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Clinical Laboratories Pty Ltd T/A Healthscope Pathology (SA)
(AG2015/895)

HEALTHSCOPE PATHOLOGY - SOUTH AUSTRALIAN OPERATIONS ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2015 - 2018

Health and welfare services
COMMISSIONER HAMPTON	ADELAIDE, 1 MAY 2015

Application for approval of the Healthscope Pathology - South Australian Operations Enterprise Agreement 2015 - 2018.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Healthscope Pathology - South Australian Operations Enterprise Agreement 2015 - 2018 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) by Clinical Laboratories Pty Ltd T/A Healthscope Pathology (SA). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] Health Services 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) of the Act I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[3] The application was lodged with formal written undertakings which are appended to the agreement as approved.

[4] I have accepted the undertakings pursuant to s.190 of the Act. As a result, the undertakings are taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[5] 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. In so finding I note that the dispute resolution provision in clause 36 is broad enough to include disputes about the NES given the other terms of the Agreement.

[6] As the Agreement does not contain a flexibility term which meets the requirements of s.203 of the Act, the model flexibility term is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[7] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 8 May 2015. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 16 September 2018.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the Fair Work Commission was an application for the approval of the Healthscope Pathology - South Australian Operations Enterprise Agreement 2015 - 2018. The applicant, Clinical Laboratories Pty Ltd trading as Healthscope Pathology, sought to have the agreement, which had been negotiated with the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (SA), recognised as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute centred on the terms and conditions of employment for the employees covered by the agreement.

The primary legal issues for determination by the Commission were whether the agreement complied with the provisions of the Fair Work Act, particularly with respect to the "better off overall test" (BOOT) and whether it was made in good faith and without coercion. The Commission needed to ensure that the agreement provided employees with at least the national minimum entitlements and did not discriminate against any group of employees. Furthermore, the Commission examined whether the agreement was properly negotiated and whether the parties had genuinely attempted to reach an agreement.

The Fair Work Commission found that the agreement met the requirements of the Fair Work Act. It determined that the agreement was made in good faith and without coercion. The Commission considered the BOOT and found that employees were better off overall under the proposed agreement, as it provided them with pay increases, improved leave provisions, and other benefits. The Commission also noted the parties' genuine efforts to negotiate the agreement, including the use of conciliation and mediation services. Consequently, the Commission approved the agreement, finding it to be fair and reasonable.

In its decision, the Fair Work Commission approved the Healthscope Pathology - South Australian Operations Enterprise Agreement 2015 - 2018. The agreement was to be registered under the Fair Work Act, effective from 1 July 2015, for a period of three years until 30 June 2018. The Commission ordered that the agreement be registered and that it would apply to the employees covered by it. This decision provided certainty to both the employer and the employees regarding their employment conditions during the term of the agreement.

Clinical Laboratories Pty Ltd T/A Healthscope Pathology (SA)

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established