Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd T/A Downer Infrastructure Summary

[2013] FWCA 3250

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd T/A Downer Infrastructure
(AG2013/1201)

DOWNER EDI ENGINEERING POWER PTY LTD RAILCAR MAINTENANCE WORKSHOP ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Electrical contracting industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MCCARTHY	PERTH, 23 MAY 2013

Application for approval of the Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd Railcar Maintenance Workshop Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd Railcar Maintenance Workshop Enterprise Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] 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 31 December 2015.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

The matter before the Fair Work Commission involved an application for the approval of the Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd Railcar Maintenance Workshop Enterprise Agreement 2013. The applicant, Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd, trading as Downer Infrastructure, sought to have the agreement certified as a registered enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute centred on the agreement's compliance with the legal requirements for registration, particularly whether it contained the necessary provisions to be considered a single, indivisible enterprise agreement. The respondents, various unions, argued that the agreement did not meet the legislative standards.

The primary legal issues the Fair Work Commission was required to address were whether the agreement was a single, indivisible document as required by the Fair Work Act, and whether it contained all the necessary mandatory terms. The unions contended that the agreement was not a single document but rather a collection of separate agreements. They also argued that the agreement failed to include specific mandatory terms, such as those relating to minimum wages and conditions. Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd maintained that the agreement was indeed a single, indivisible document and that it contained all the mandatory terms required by the Act.

In considering the application, the Fair Work Commission examined the structure and content of the agreement. The Commission found that the agreement was a single, indivisible document as it was presented as a unified set of terms and conditions and did not contain any indication that it was intended to be multiple agreements. The Commission also determined that the agreement included all the necessary mandatory terms, such as those concerning minimum wages and conditions. The Commission concluded that the agreement was compliant with the requirements of the Fair Work Act and approved it as a registered enterprise agreement. The unions' objections were thus dismissed.

The Fair Work Commission certified the Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd Railcar Maintenance Workshop Enterprise Agreement 2013 as a registered enterprise agreement. The decision confirmed the agreement's compliance with the legislative requirements, rejecting the unions' contentions that it was not a single document and lacked mandatory terms. This approval ensures that the agreement can now operate as the governing set of terms and conditions for the relevant employees and employers.

Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd T/A Downer Infrastructure

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established