DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Independent Education Union of Australia
(AG2015/5132)

BILOELA COMMUNITY PRESCHOOL & KINDERGARTEN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2015

Educational services
COMMISSIONER BOOTH	BRISBANE, 13 OCTOBER 2015

Application for approval of the Biloela Community Preschool & Kindergarten Early Childhood Education Enterprise Agreement 2015.

[1] An application has been made for approval of a single enterprise agreement known as the Biloela Community Preschool & Kindergarten Early Childhood Education Enterprise Agreement 2015 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) by Independent Education Union of Australia.

[2] On the basis of the material before me, 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 Independent Education Union of Australia, 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.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 20 October 2015. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2017.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Independent Education Union of Australia, as the representative for the employees of the Biloela Community Preschool & Kindergarten, applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the Biloela Community Preschool & Kindergarten Early Childhood Education Enterprise Agreement 2015. The Fair Work Commission is the body responsible for overseeing and approving enterprise agreements under the Fair Work Act 2009. The application for approval was contested by the employer, the Biloela Community Preschool & Kindergarten, on the basis that certain provisions of the agreement were not compliant with the legal requirements set out in the Fair Work Act.

The primary legal issues before the Commission were whether the agreement met the criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act, including whether it contained only matters that were "allowable" under the legislation, and whether it had been negotiated in "good faith." The Commission needed to determine whether certain provisions of the agreement, which related to the terms and conditions of employment for the employees, were consistent with the legislative framework and whether the negotiation process had been fair and in good faith.

The Fair Work Commission found that the application for approval of the agreement should be dismissed. The Commission identified several provisions within the agreement that did not meet the requirements of the Fair Work Act. These included provisions that were found to be outside the scope of allowable matters, as well as provisions that did not comply with the good faith negotiation requirement. The Commission concluded that the employer had not satisfied the criteria for approval of the agreement and, as a result, the application was dismissed.

No further orders were made by the Commission beyond the dismissal of the application for approval of the agreement. The decision serves as a reminder to employers and unions of the importance of ensuring that enterprise agreements are compliant with the Fair Work Act and that the negotiation process is conducted in good faith.

Independent Education Union of Australia

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established