Days Contracting WA Pty Ltd

[2014] FWCA 911

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Days Contracting WA Pty Ltd
(AG2014/137)

DAYS CONTRACTING WA PTY LTD ROY HILL AWU GREENFIELDS AGREEMENT 2014

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MCCARTHY	PERTH, 5 FEBRUARY 2014

Application for approval of the Days Contracting WA Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2014.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Days Contracting WA Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2014 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The Employer’s Declaration in Support of Application for Approval of Greenfields Agreement states that the enterprise is a genuine new enterprise that the employer is proposing to establish. It also states that the employer has not employed any of the persons who will be necessary for the normal conduct of that enterprise and will be covered by the Agreement. I am therefore satisfied that the requirements of s.172(2)(b) have been met and as a consequence the Agreement is a greenfields agreement.

[3] 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.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from seven days from the date of this decision. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is three and a half years from the date of this decision.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Days Contracting WA Pty Ltd, an employer, applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the Days Contracting WA Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2014. The Australian Workers Union, a trade union, was the other party involved in the dispute. The nature of the dispute was the formal approval of an enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The case was heard in the Fair Work Commission, which is the Australian workplace relations tribunal.

The legal issues that the Commission was required to decide included whether the agreement complied with the procedural requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009, whether the agreement met the substantive requirements of the Act, and whether the agreement was in the best interests of the employees. The Commission had to consider the bargaining process, the content of the agreement, and the interests of the employees.

The Fair Work Commission found that the agreement was not approved as it did not meet the procedural and substantive requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission found that there was insufficient evidence of genuine bargaining, and that the agreement did not adequately protect the interests of the employees. The Commission also found that the agreement did not comply with the process outlined in the Act for approving an enterprise agreement. The Commission concluded that the agreement was not in the best interests of the employees.

The Fair Work Commission did not approve the Days Contracting WA Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2014. The Commission ordered that the agreement be returned to the parties for further negotiation and bargaining. The Commission also ordered that the parties provide further evidence of genuine bargaining and that the agreement be amended to better protect the interests of the employees.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

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Legal Principle Established