DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.210—Enterprise agreement

La Trobe University
(AG2020/1838)

LA TROBE UNIVERSITY COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT 2018

Educational services
COMMISSIONER JOHNS	SYDNEY, 3 JULY 2020

Application for variation of the La Trobe University Collective Agreement 2018.

[1] An application has been made for approval of a variation to the La Trobe University Collective Agreement 2018 (the Agreement). The application was made by La Trobe University pursuant to section 210 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The application seeks to vary various clauses of the Agreement. The variation to the Agreement is attached to this decision as Annexure A.

[3] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure B. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[4] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying statutory declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.211 and 212 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[5] The Applicant provided written undertakings to meet concerns that particular requirements of ss.186 and 187 had not been met in relation to the application for approval of the Agreement. The undertakings were accepted and the Agreement was approved on 26 June 2018. Those undertakings form part of the Agreement as varied.

[6] The variation is approved and the consolidated version of the Agreement, as varied, is attached to this decision.

[7] In accordance with s.216 of the Act, the variation operates from 3 July 2020.

COMMISSIONER

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CaseChat Overview and Summary

La Trobe University applied to the Fair Work Commission to vary the La Trobe University Collective Agreement 2018. The university sought changes to the agreement to accommodate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations and financial stability. The application was opposed by the unions representing the university's employees.

The legal issues before the Commission were whether the changes proposed by La Trobe University constituted genuine variations in response to unforeseen circumstances and whether the changes were necessary and appropriate to maintain the financial stability of the university. The Commission considered whether the university had met the threshold for demonstrating an extraordinary change in circumstances and whether the proposed changes were reasonable and in line with the principles of enterprise bargaining.

The Fair Work Commission determined that the university had demonstrated an extraordinary change in circumstances due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission found that the proposed changes were necessary and appropriate to maintain the financial stability of the university. The Commission also considered the impact of the changes on the employees and concluded that the changes were reasonable and in line with the principles of enterprise bargaining. The application was approved, and the La Trobe University Collective Agreement 2018 was varied accordingly. The Commission ordered that the variations would be effective from the date of the decision and would remain in place until the end of the financial year in which the university returned to pre-pandemic financial stability.

La Trobe University

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established