DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Denrith Pty Ltd
(AG2017/3601)

DENRITH TRANSPORT ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Australian Capital Territory
COMMISSIONER MCKINNON	MELBOURNE, 11 JANUARY 2018

Application for approval of the Denrith Transport Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Denrith Transport Enterprise Agreement 2017 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Denrith Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement 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 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 18 January 2018. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 10 January 2022.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, Denrith Pty Ltd applied for the approval of the Denrith Transport Enterprise Agreement 2017. The applicant, a transport company, sought to have the agreement recognised as a registered enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The application was contested by the Transport Workers Union, which argued that the agreement failed to meet certain statutory requirements for approval.

The central legal issue was whether the agreement complied with section 230 of the Fair Work Act, which sets out the criteria for an enterprise agreement to be approved. Specifically, the union contended that the agreement did not adequately address the issue of penalty rates for employees working on public holidays and had not been negotiated in good faith. The union argued that these deficiencies meant the agreement could not be registered.

The Commission examined the application in light of the legislative criteria. It found that the agreement had been negotiated in good faith and contained provisions for penalty rates for public holidays, albeit not in the form the union had preferred. The Commission held that the provisions were sufficiently detailed to meet the statutory requirements, and that the negotiation process had been conducted appropriately. Consequently, the Commission approved the Denrith Transport Enterprise Agreement 2017 as a registered enterprise agreement.

Denrith Pty Ltd

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established