Finance Sector Union v PP Consultants

The appeal in Finance Sector Union v PP Consultants involves a dispute regarding the application of the Banking Industry – St.George Bank Employees Award 1995 to the employment of Patricia Gail Moffat. The Finance Sector Union (appellant) claims that PP Consultants Pty Ltd (respondent) is bound by the award as a successor, assignee, or transmittee of part of the business of St.George Bank Limited (the bank). The central issue before the court was whether PP Consultants was bound by the award, considering that the bank had closed its branch and entered into an agreement with PP Consultants to conduct banking activities at its premises.

The court was required to determine if PP Consultants conducted part of the bank's business and, if so, whether it did so as a successor, assignee, or transmittee of the bank. This analysis hinged on interpreting the phrase "any successor, assignee or transmittee to or of the business or part of the business of an employer" in s 149(1)(d) of the Workplace Relations Act 1996. The court also needed to address whether a "part of the business" must be an independently viable business.

The court concluded that the respondent was not bound by the award. The primary judge identified that there was a substantial identity between the previous activities of the branch and those subsequently carried on by PP Consultants. However, the court also noted that the activities were conducted in conjunction with, but not as part of, the pharmacy business. Furthermore, the agreement explicitly stated that it was an agency arrangement and not an employer/employee relationship. Given these factors, the court found that PP Consultants did not conduct part of the bank's business as a successor, assignee, or transmittee.

The appeal was upheld, and the orders made by Mathews J on 12 May 1999 were set aside. The matter was remitted to Mathews J for further hearing and determination.