DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.210—Enterprise agreement

Devonport City Council
(AG2019/1103)

DEVONPORT CITY COUNCIL ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Local government administration
COMMISSIONER BISSETT	PERTH, 13 AUGUST 2019

Application for variation of the Devonport City Council Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of a variation to the Devonport City Council Enterprise Agreement 2017 (the Agreement). The application was made by Devonport City Council pursuant to section 210 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The application seeks to vary various clauses of the Agreement. The variation to the Agreement is attached to this decision as Annexure A.

[3] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure B. 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.

[4] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying statutory declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.211 and 212 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[5] The Agreement was originally approved on 6 March 2018 with undertakings. Those undertakings form part of the Agreement as varied.

[6] The variation is approved and the consolidated version of the Agreement, as varied, is attached to this decision.

[7] In accordance with s.216 of the Act, the variation operates from 13 August 2019.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, the Devonport City Council sought to vary the Enterprise Agreement 2017 that governed the terms and conditions of employment for its employees. The Council argued that the agreement needed to be altered due to financial constraints and the need to remain competitive in attracting and retaining staff. The relevant union, which represented the employees, opposed the application.

The legal issues before the Commission were whether the proposed variations met the statutory criteria for being considered reasonable and whether the Council had adequately demonstrated the need for the changes. The Commission needed to assess if the Council's financial situation was genuine and if the proposed changes would indeed help address the issues while maintaining fairness to the employees.

The Commission found that the Council had not sufficiently demonstrated that the proposed variations were necessary or reasonable. While acknowledging the financial pressures faced by the Council, the Commission held that the evidence did not conclusively show that the proposed changes were required to address those pressures. Furthermore, the Commission noted that some of the proposed changes would adversely affect employees without clear benefits to the Council. Consequently, the application was dismissed, and the Enterprise Agreement 2017 remained in force. The Council was ordered to pay the union's costs of the application.

Devonport City Council

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established