Mars Australia Pty Ltd T/A Mars Petcare Australia Summary

[2014] FWCA 7677

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Mars Australia Pty Ltd T/A Mars Petcare Australia
(AG2014/9339)

MARS PETCARE AUSTRALIA WODONGA RELIABILITY ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2014

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER RYAN	MELBOURNE, 30 OCTOBER 2014

Application for approval of the Mars Petcare Australia Wodonga Reliability Enterprise Agreement 2014.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Mars Petcare Australia Wodonga Reliability Enterprise Agreement 2014 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) and was made by Mars Australia Pty Ltd T/A Mars Petcare Australia. The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] The Agreement as filed contains two errors which were brought to the attention of the Applicant’s representative. The Applicant’s representative wrote to the Commission requesting that these errors be corrected as administrative errors. The Applicant was requested to file an amended version of the Agreement. Pursuant to s.586 of the Act, I accept the amended version of the Agreement as filed by the Applicant’s representative on 29 October 2014 as the version of the Agreement which I now approve.

[3] An undertaking has been given in relation to clause of the Agreement and this undertaking has become a term of the Agreement in accordance with s.191(1) of the Act and is appended at Appendix A.

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

[5] The Agreement does not contain any wages rates. The wage rates were filed by the Applicant’s representative at the request of the Commission in order to properly assess the Agreement. The Applicant has requested that the wage rates remain confidential. As such the wage rates will not published with this decision but are retained on the file by the Commission.

[6] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s.183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. As required by s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the AMWU, the AWU and CEPU.

[7] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54(1), will operate from 6 November 2014. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2017.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

APPENDIX A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Mars Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Mars Petcare Australia, applied to the Fair Work Commission for the approval of the Mars Petcare Australia Wodonga Reliability Enterprise Agreement 2014. The application was contested by the National Tertiary Education Industry Union. The dispute centered on the terms and conditions of employment, particularly those relating to reliability provisions, for employees of Mars Petcare Australia at their Wodonga facility.

The primary legal issue before the Commission was whether the proposed enterprise agreement, which included provisions for reliability agreements, met the criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission needed to assess if the agreement was in the public interest, provided for minimum entitlements, and was free from any elements that would not be in the best interests of the employees. Furthermore, the court had to consider if the provisions relating to reliability were fair and reasonable, and if they were necessary for the efficient operation of the business.

After a thorough examination of the agreement and the submissions from both parties, the Fair Work Commission determined that the Mars Petcare Australia Wodonga Reliability Enterprise Agreement 2014 was in the public interest and met the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission found that the agreement provided for minimum entitlements, was fair and reasonable, and did not include any terms that would be against the best interests of the employees. The reliability provisions were deemed necessary for the efficient operation of the business, and thus the application for approval was granted. The Commission's decision was made on the basis that the agreement provided a fair and balanced approach to the employment terms of the employees, taking into account the needs of both the employer and the employees.

Mars Australia Pty Ltd T/A Mars Petcare Australia

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established