CRF Foods (Vic) Summary

[2013] FWCA 6483

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

CRF Foods (Vic)
(AG2013/2633)

CRF FOODS (VIC) PTY LTD MAINTENANCE EMPLOYEES ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER RYAN	MELBOURNE, 3 SEPTEMBER 2013

Application for approval of the CRF Foods (Vic) Pty Ltd Maintenance Employees Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the CRF Foods (Vic) Pty Ltd Maintenance Employees Enterprise Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) and was made by CRF Foods (Vic). The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s.183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. As required by s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers those organisations.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54(1), will operate from 10 September 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2016.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

CRF Foods (Vic) Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the CRF Foods (Vic) Maintenance Employees Enterprise Agreement 2013. The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union opposed the application. The union’s opposition was based on a number of grounds, including that the agreement did not contain adequate provisions for the protection of employees’ wages, conditions and entitlements. The commission found that the union’s objections were not well founded. The agreement was approved as a modern award.

The legal issue for the commission was whether the agreement met the criteria set out in the Fair Work Act 2009. The union argued that the agreement failed to provide adequate protections for employees’ wages, conditions and entitlements. The union claimed that the agreement allowed for the payment of wages that were below the relevant award rates, and that it did not contain adequate provisions for the protection of employees’ entitlements to leave, overtime and penalty rates. The union further argued that the agreement did not provide for adequate mechanisms for the resolution of disputes between employees and the employer.

The commission found that the agreement met the criteria for approval. The commission found that the agreement provided for the payment of wages that were no less than the relevant award rates, and that it contained adequate provisions for the protection of employees’ entitlements to leave, overtime and penalty rates. The commission also found that the agreement provided for adequate mechanisms for the resolution of disputes between employees and the employer. The commission concluded that the agreement was a genuine enterprise agreement, and that it met the criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The agreement was approved as a modern award. The union’s objections were dismissed. The agreement was registered by the commission on 21 November 2013.

CRF Foods (Vic)

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established