McColl's Group Holdings Pty Ltd

[2019] FWCA 6652

[2019] FWCA 6652

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

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

McColl's Group Holdings Pty Ltd
(AG2019/3055)

MCCOLL'S TRANSPORT PTY LTD WESTERN AUSTRALIA BULK CHEMICAL AGREEMENT 2018 - 2021

Road transport industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT BEAUMONT	PERTH, 25 SEPTEMBER 2019

Application for approval of the McColl's Transport Pty Ltd Western Australia Bulk Chemicals Collective Agreement 2018 - 2021.

[1] McColl’s Group Holdings Pty Ltd has made an application for the approval of an enterprise agreement known as the McColl's Transport Pty Ltd Western Australia Bulk Chemical Agreement 2018 - 2021 (the Agreement). The application was made under s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant informed the Commission that McColls Group Holdings Pty Ltdis the holding company of two employing entities within its group.  Those two employing entities are McColl’s Transport Pty Ltd and McColl’s Tankers Pty Ltd, both of whom employed the employees who were to be covered by the Agreement at the relevant time.  However, the Notice of Employee Representational Rights given to the relevant employees cited only the one entity – McColl’s Transport Pty Ltd.  It is observed that the legal employing entities and employers remained the same at all relevant times.   In the circumstances and having regard to the decision in Huntsman Chemical Company Australia Pty Limited t/a RMAX Rigid Cellular Plastics and Others, 1 I am satisfied that:

a) the omission of McColl’s Tankers Pty Ltd from the Notice of Employee Representation Rights constitutes a minor technical error for the purposes of s 188(2)(a); and

b) the employees to be covered by the Agreement were not likely to have been disadvantaged by the error.

[3] The Employer has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. 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.

[4] In compliance with s 190(4) of the Act, the bargaining representative’s views regarding the undertakings proffered were sought. They were provided with the opportunity to raise and address any objections they had to the undertakings proffered by the Applicant. No objection was raised.

[5] 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 186, 187, 188, and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[6] The Agreement was approved on 25 September 2019 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 2 November 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 October 2021.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Annexure A

 1   [2019] FWCFB 318.

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