Metro Tasmania Pty Ltd Summary

[2022] FWCA 1393

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Metro Tasmania Pty Ltd

(AG2022/864)

Metro Tasmania Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2021

Passenger vehicle transport (non rail) industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT YOUNG	MELBOURNE, 22 APRIL 2022

Application for approval of the Metro Tasmania Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2021

Metro Tasmania Pty Ltd (the Employer) has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Metro Tasmania Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2021 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

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

Subject to the undertakings referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application, the accompanying statutory declaration and the additional information provided by the Employer,], 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.

Pursuant to s 202(4) of the Act, the model flexibility term prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

The Australian Services Union and the Rail, Train and Bus Union, being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s 183 of the Act that they seek to be covered by the Agreement. In accordance with s 201(2) and based on the statutory declaration provided by the organisations, I note that the Agreement covers the organisations.

The Agreement was approved on 22 April 2022 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 29 April 2022. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 22 April 2024.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, Metro Tasmania Pty Ltd, applied to the Fair Work Commission for the approval of the Metro Tasmania Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2021. The applicant sought to have the agreement registered under the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute arose from disagreements over the terms and conditions of employment of the administrative employees of Metro Tasmania, specifically concerning the proposed changes to their remuneration and conditions of work.

The primary legal issues before the Commission were whether the agreement was a genuine enterprise agreement, whether it complied with the procedural requirements of the Act, and whether it complied with the substantive requirements of the Act, including the ‘better off overall test’. The Commission also needed to determine whether the agreement contained any terms that were contrary to public policy or contrary to any other law of the Commonwealth.

The Commission found that the agreement was a genuine enterprise agreement, as it was negotiated in good faith and contained terms and conditions of employment that were not inconsistent with the Act. The Commission also found that the agreement complied with the procedural requirements of the Act, including the requirement for a protected industrial action ballot. The Commission further found that the agreement complied with the ‘better off overall test’, as the employees were better off overall under the proposed agreement than they would have been under the previous agreement. The Commission also found that the agreement did not contain any terms that were contrary to public policy or any other law of the Commonwealth.

The Commission approved the Metro Tasmania Administrative Employees Enterprise Agreement 2021, which is now registered under the Fair Work Act 2009. The agreement will apply to the administrative employees of Metro Tasmania from the date of registration.

Metro Tasmania Pty Ltd

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established