Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd

[2014] FWCA 7739

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd
(AG2014/9054)

DOWNER RAIL EVELEIGH MAINTENANCE CENTRE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2014-2018

Manufacturing and associated industries
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT DRAKE	SYDNEY, 31 OCTOBER 2014

Application for approval of the Downer Rail Eveleigh Maintenance Centre Enterprise Agreement 2014 - 2018.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Downer Rail Eveleigh Maintenance Centre Enterprise Agreement 2014 - 2018 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd. The agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Agreement was lodged within 14 days after it was made.

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

[4] The Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia, and the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, both being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. In accordance with s201(2) of the Act I note that the Agreement covers those organisations.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s54 of the Act, will operate from 7 November 2014. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 28 October 2018.

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd, an Australian company, sought approval for the Downer Rail Eveleigh Maintenance Centre Enterprise Agreement 2014-2018. The Fair Work Commission was asked to determine whether the agreement should be approved as a "single interest employer agreement" under the Fair Work Act 2009. The legal issue was whether Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd met the definition of a "single interest employer" as outlined in the Fair Work Act 2009.

The Fair Work Commission examined whether Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd was a single interest employer. It considered the scope of the enterprise agreement, the nature of the enterprise, and the extent to which the agreement covered employees performing work of a kind that could be performed by a single interest employer. The Commission found that the enterprise agreement covered employees who performed work related to the maintenance of rail infrastructure, a task consistent with a single interest employer. The Commission concluded that Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd qualified as a single interest employer, as the enterprise agreement did not cover employees performing work unrelated to its primary business of rail maintenance.

As a result, the Fair Work Commission approved the Downer Rail Eveleigh Maintenance Centre Enterprise Agreement 2014-2018. The Commission determined that the agreement met the requirements for a single interest employer agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The decision was made based on the nature of the work performed by the employees covered by the agreement and the alignment of the agreement with the primary business of Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established