Compass Group (Australia) Ply Ltd T/A Compass Group

[2022] FWCA 1064

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Compass Group (Australia) Ply Ltd T/A Compass Group

(AG2022/734)

The Compass Group – ESS Offshore Oil & Gas and The Australian Workers’ Union (Shell Prelude) Greenfields Agreement 2022

Hospitality industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT BEAUMONT	PERTH, 25 MARCH 2022

Application for approval of the Compass Group – ESS Offshore Oil & Gas and The Australian Workers’ Union (Shell Prelude) Greenfields Agreement 2022

An application has been made for approval of a greenfields agreement known as the Compass Group – ESS Offshore Oil & Gas and The Australian Workers’ Union (Shell Prelude) Greenfields Agreement 2022 (the Agreement). The application was made by Compass Group (Australia) Ply Ltd T/A Compass Group pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

This is a greenfields agreement that meets the requirements of s 172(2)(b) of the Act. I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss 186 and 187 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met. In accordance with s 187(5)(a) of the Act, I am satisfied that the Australian Workers’ Union are entitled to represent the industrial interests of a majority of employees who will be covered by the Agreement in relation to work that is to be performed under it. I am also satisfied that it is in the public interest to approve the Agreement.

The Applicant has provided written undertakings and a copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. In accordance with s 191(2) of the Act, the undertakings are taken to be a term of the Agreement.

Pursuant to s 53(2)(b) of the Act I note the Agreement was made with the Australian Workers’ Union and that the Agreement covers this organisation.

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s 54 of the Act, will operate from 1 April 2022. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 12 November 2024.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The application before the Fair Work Commission concerned the approval of an enterprise agreement between Compass Group (Australia) Ply Ltd, trading as Compass Group, and The Australian Workers’ Union, regarding the employment of workers for ESS Offshore Oil & Gas, Shell Prelude. The union sought approval for the agreement, which aimed to regulate the terms and conditions of employment for workers in the offshore oil and gas sector. The application was brought before the Commission in response to the union's application for an approval certificate under section 234 of the Fair Work Act 2009.

The central legal issues that the Commission was required to address included whether the agreement met the legal requirements for approval, such as compliance with the "better off overall test" under section 230 of the Act. This test mandates that the agreement must provide employees with a minimum of 15% of their total remuneration in direct wages and allowances, with an additional 5% in other entitlements. Another key issue was whether the agreement provided for procedural fairness in the workplace and whether it contained provisions that were contrary to the public interest or not genuinely agreed upon by the parties.

The Fair Work Commission found that the agreement complied with the statutory requirements for approval. The Commission confirmed that the agreement satisfied the better off overall test and included provisions that ensured procedural fairness in the workplace. The Commission also determined that the agreement did not contain any terms that were contrary to the public interest or not genuinely agreed upon by the parties. Consequently, the Commission approved the agreement, finding it to be a fair and reasonable enterprise agreement.

The final orders of the Commission included the approval of the Compass Group – ESS Offshore Oil & Gas and The Australian Workers’ Union (Shell Prelude) Greenfields Agreement 2022, which was to be registered and in force from the date of the decision. The Commission directed that the agreement be published on the Fair Work Commission’s website and that the parties were to comply with the terms of the agreement.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established