DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia
(AG2021/5473)

SUMMIT INSULATION PTY LTD AND CEPU - PLUMBING DIVISION (VIC) PLUMBING ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2019 - 2023

Plumbing industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN	MELBOURNE, 11 JUNE 2021

Application for approval of the Summit Insulation Pty Ltd and CEPU - Plumbing Division (Vic) Plumbing Enterprise Agreement 2019 - 2023.

[1] The Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU) has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Summit Insulation Pty Ltd and CEPU - Plumbing Division (Vic) Plumbing Enterprise Agreement 2019 - 2023 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] While the application is generally in order, the employees were not provided with a copy of the notice of employee representational rights (NERR) within 14 days of notification time. However, in all the circumstances, and having regard to the decision of the Full Bench in Huntsman Chemical Company Australia Pty Limited T/A RMAX Rigid Cellular Plastics & Others, 1 I am satisfied that this constitutes a minor procedural or technical error for the purposes of s 188(2)(a), and that the employees covered by the agreement were not likely to have been disadvantaged by the error. As a result, I am satisfied that the Agreement has been genuinely agreed within the meaning of s 188(2) of the Act.

[3] 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.

[4] The CEPU, 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) and based on the declaration provided by the organisation, I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement was approved on 11 June 2021 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 18 June 2021. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 October 2023.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

1 [2019] FWCFB 318

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the Fair Work Commission concerned an application for the approval of a new enterprise agreement between the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia and Summit Insulation Pty Ltd. The agreement in question is the Summit Insulation Pty Ltd and CEPU - Plumbing Division (Vic) Plumbing Enterprise Agreement 2019 - 2023. The union sought approval of the agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009, arguing that it met the criteria for registration and that it was in the best interests of the employees involved.

The primary legal issue for the court was whether the enterprise agreement complied with the statutory requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009, and if it appropriately balanced the interests of both the employees and the employer. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the agreement was made in good faith, whether it provided for a fair and reasonable method for determining employees' rates of pay and other conditions of employment, and whether it met the requirements for a "single, short and simple" agreement.

The court found that the agreement was made in good faith and that it met the statutory requirements set out in the Fair Work Act 2009. The agreement provided for a fair and reasonable method for determining employees' rates of pay and other conditions of employment, and it was a single, short and simple agreement. The court also considered the interests of the employees and found that the agreement was in their best interests. The court approved the agreement, finding that it met the criteria for registration and that it was in the best interests of the employees involved.

Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established