DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia
(AG2020/2169)

PLJ HOLDINGS PTY LTD & CEPU NSW/NFIA SPRINKLER FITTING FIRE PROTECTION UNION ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT NSW & ACT 2020-2024

Plumbing industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT BOYCE	SYDNEY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2020

Application for approval of the PLJ Holdings Pty Ltd & CEPU NSW/NFIA Sprinkler Fitting Fire Protection Union Enterprise Agreement NSW & ACT 2020-2024.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement to be known as the PLJ Holdings Pty Ltd & CEPU NSW/NFIA Sprinkler Fitting Fire Protection Union Enterprise Agreement NSW & ACT 2020-2024 (Agreement). The application is made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The employer, PLJ Holdings Pty Ltd, has provided written undertakings dated 27 August 2020. Those undertakings are attached at Annexure A to this decision and become terms of the Agreement. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement (as compared to the relevant provisions of the Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2010), and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 of the Act, as are relevant to this application for approval, have been met.

[4] I am also satisfied that the more beneficial entitlements of the NES will prevail where there is any inconsistency between the Agreement and the NES.

[5] The Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union — Plumbing Division — NSW Branch, being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants to be covered by the Agreement. In accordance with s.201(2) of the Act, I note that the Agreement covers this organisation.

[6] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 9 September 2020. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 29 February 2024.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter involved an application for the approval of an enterprise agreement between PLJ Holdings Pty Ltd and two unions, the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEEIPESUA) and the CEPU NSW/NFIA Sprinkler Fitting Fire Protection Union Enterprise Agreement NSW & ACT. The application was brought before the Fair Work Commission, an industrial relations tribunal in Australia.

The legal issues that the Commission was required to determine centred on whether the proposed enterprise agreement complied with the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission had to examine if the agreement contained all the mandatory terms and conditions set out in the Act and whether it was fair and reasonable in all its aspects. Additionally, the Commission had to assess if the agreement had been negotiated in good faith and if the necessary procedural requirements had been met during the negotiation process.

In delivering its decision, the Fair Work Commission considered the arguments presented by the parties and conducted a thorough analysis of the proposed enterprise agreement. The Commission found that the agreement contained all the mandatory terms and conditions required by the Act and that it was fair and reasonable in all its aspects. The Commission also determined that the agreement had been negotiated in good faith and that the necessary procedural requirements had been met. As a result, the Fair Work Commission approved the proposed enterprise agreement between PLJ Holdings Pty Ltd and the two unions.

The final orders of the Commission included the approval of the enterprise agreement between PLJ Holdings Pty Ltd and the two unions, effective from the date of the decision. The approved agreement will govern the terms and conditions of employment for the employees covered by the agreement for the period of 2020 to 2024.

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