GETON With Pty Ltd
[2023] FWCA 2344
•1 AUGUST 2023
| [2023] FWCA 2344 |
| FAIR WORK COMMISSION |
| DECISION |
Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement
GETON With Pty Ltd
(AG2023/2405)
GETON WITH PTY LTD AND CEPU- PLUMBING DIVISION VICTORIAN BRANCH ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2023
| Plumbing industry | |
| DEPUTY PRESIDENT BELL | MELBOURNE, 1 AUGUST 2023 |
Application for approval of the GETON With Pty Ltd and CEPU- Plumbing Division Victorian Branch Enterprise Agreement 2023.
An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the GETON With Pty Ltd and CEPU- Plumbing Division Victorian Branch Enterprise Agreement 2023 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) by the employer GETON With Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.
The notification time for the Agreement under s.173(2) was 14 June 2023 and the Agreement was made on 5 July 2023. Accordingly, both the genuine agreement and the better off overall test requirements are those applying on and from 6 June 2023.[1]
Having regard to the material contained in the application and filed in relation to it, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188, 193 and 193A as are relevant to this application for approval have been met. The Agreement does not cover all of the employees of the employer. However, taking into account the factors in sections 186(3) and (3A), I am satisfied that the group of employees was fairly chosen.
The Employer did not provide employees with the notice of employee representational rights 21 clear days prior to the commencement of the vote, as required by s.181(2) of the Act. Nevertheless, in the circumstances, I am satisfied that this constitutes a minor procedural or technical error for the purpose of s.188(5). Further, I am satisfied that the employees covered by the agreement were not likely to have been disadvantaged by the error. As a result, I am satisfied that the Agreement has been genuinely agreed within the meaning of s.188 of the Act.
The Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.
The Agreement was approved on 1 August 2023 and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 8 August 2023. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 October 2023.
DEPUTY PRESIDENT
[1] The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (Cth) made a number of changes to enterprise agreement approval processes in Part 2-4 of the Fair Work Act. Those changes broadly commenced operation on 6 June 2023, subject to various transitional arrangements which are not applicable to the present application.
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