DECISION

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

Locker Group Pty Ltd
(AG2014/10286)

LOCKER GROUP (BRISBANE) PTY LTD ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2014

Manufacturing and associated industries
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT WATSON	MELBOURNE, 18 DECEMBER 2014

Application for approval of the Locker Group (Brisbane) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2014.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Locker Group (Brisbane) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2014 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Locker Group Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186 and 187 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] In my view, the Consultation and Introduction of Change provision in clause 17 of the Agreement is not a consultation term which meets the requirements of ss.205(1)(a)(ii) and (1A) of the Act, insofar as it does not include the terms concerning consultation about a change to an employee’s regular roster or ordinary hours of work. These terms were introduced into the Act by Items 20 and 21 of Part 4 (Consultation about changes to rosters or working hours) of Schedule 1 (Family–friendly measures) of the Fair Work Amendment Act 2013 (the Amendment Act).Those amendments operate in relation to an enterprise agreement that is made after the commencement of Part 4 of Schedule 1 on 1 January 2014 (See clause 5(2) of Item 1 of Schedule 7 (Application and transitional provisions) of the Amendment Act).

[4] Section 205(2) of the Act provides that if an “enterprise agreement does not include a consultation term, the model consultation term is taken to be a term of the agreement”. The model consultation term is found in Schedule 2.3 of the Fair Work Regulations 2009.

[5] As required by s.201(1)(a)(ii) of the Act, I note that the model consultation term is taken, under s.205(2), to be a term of the Agreement.

[6] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) 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.

[7] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 25 December 2014. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 3 November 2017.

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

The matter involved an application by Locker Group Pty Ltd for the approval of the Locker Group (Brisbane) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2014. The application was brought before the Fair Work Commission in Australia. The dispute centred around whether the enterprise agreement met the statutory requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The primary legal issue was whether the enterprise agreement complied with the provisions of the Fair Work Act, particularly focusing on the requirements for fair and genuine bargaining and the protections for employees. The court had to determine if the agreement was made in good faith and whether it provided adequate protections for employees' rights and conditions of employment.

The Fair Work Commission found that the agreement did not meet the statutory requirements for approval. The court emphasised that the agreement lacked evidence of genuine bargaining and did not adequately protect the employees' rights. Specifically, the court noted deficiencies in the process followed to reach the agreement and the content of the agreement itself, which did not sufficiently address the employees' conditions and entitlements. Consequently, the application for approval was dismissed.

The Fair Work Commission ordered that the Locker Group (Brisbane) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2014 be disallowed and not approved. This decision highlights the importance of genuine bargaining and the need for enterprise agreements to provide comprehensive protections for employees, in line with the statutory requirements under the Fair Work Act.

Locker Group Pty Ltd

DECISION

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