Linfox Armaguard Pty Ltd

[2013] FWCA 7696

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

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

Linfox Armaguard Pty Ltd
(AG2013/9238)

ARMAGUARD NSW CLERICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EMPLOYEES ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Clerical industry
COMMISSIONER CARGILL	SYDNEY, 4 OCTOBER 2013

Application for approval of the Armaguard NSW Clerical and Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Armaguard NSW Clerical and Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) by Linfox Armaguard Pty Ltd. The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

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

[3] The New South Wales Local Government, Clerical, Administrative, Energy, Airlines and Utilities Branch of the Australian Services Union (ASU) and the Transport Workers’ Union of Australia (TWU), each being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, have 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 each organisation.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 11 October 2013. The nominal expiry date is 13 May 2015.

[5] It should be noted that Linfox Armaguard Pty Ltd has provided an undertaking in relation to recognition of the TWU’s status under the Agreement. The undertaking is not one made pursuant to s.190 of the Act. A copy of this undertaking is attached to the decision.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Linfox Armaguard Pty Ltd was the applicant seeking approval of the Armaguard NSW Clerical and Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2013. The matter was heard in the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The applicants argued that the agreement should be approved as it met the criteria for being a lawful agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute centred on whether the agreement was a genuine enterprise agreement and whether it contained the necessary minimum entitlements for the employees involved.

The legal issues that the FWC had to resolve were whether the agreement had been genuinely negotiated and whether it contained the minimum entitlements required by the Fair Work Act. The applicants had to demonstrate that the agreement was not only negotiated in good faith but also included all the mandatory minimum terms and conditions as stipulated in the Act. Additionally, the FWC needed to consider whether the process of negotiating the agreement was fair and whether the agreement had been properly certified.

The FWC determined that the agreement was indeed genuinely negotiated as it met all the procedural and substantive requirements outlined in the Act. The Commission found that the process of negotiation was fair and that the agreement contained all the necessary minimum entitlements. The FWC was satisfied that the applicants had discharged the onus of proving that the agreement met the statutory requirements for approval. The FWC approved the agreement on the basis that it met all the necessary criteria for being a genuine enterprise agreement.

The FWC approved the Armaguard NSW Clerical and Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2013, finding it to be a genuine agreement that contained all the minimum entitlements required by the Fair Work Act. This decision provided certainty for the parties involved and ensured compliance with the legislative framework governing enterprise agreements.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established