NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd

[2014] FWCA 2306

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

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

NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd
(AG2014/3947)

NRG GLADSTONE OPERATING SERVICES PTY LTD (NRG GOS) ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2014

Electrical power industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT ASBURY	BRISBANE, 7 APRIL 2014

Application for approval of the NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd (NRG GOS) Enterprise Agreement 2014.

[1] NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd applies for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd (NRG GOS) Enterprise Agreement 2014 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union; the “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU); the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia; The Australian Workers’ Union; and the Queensland Services, Industrial Union of Employees, being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s.183 of the Act that the organisations want the Agreement to cover them. In accordance with s.201(2) of the Act I note that the Agreement covers the organisations.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 14 April 2014. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2016.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for approval of the NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd (NRG GOS) Enterprise Agreement 2014. The application was opposed by the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU). The AMWU claimed that the agreement did not meet the requirements of section 230 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), as it did not provide for a fair and efficient system for the resolution of employee grievances. The FWC was required to determine whether the grievance handling provisions in the agreement were fair and efficient, as required by section 230(3) of the Act.

The FWC examined the grievance handling provisions in the agreement, which included a multi-step process involving a series of meetings between the employee, the supervisor, the manager, and the human resources department. The FWC found that the provisions provided for a fair and efficient system for the resolution of employee grievances. The FWC noted that the process was designed to ensure that grievances were dealt with promptly and effectively, and that the employee had an opportunity to be heard and to present their case. The FWC also noted that the process provided for the involvement of a neutral third party, in the form of the human resources department, which could assist in resolving the grievance. The FWC concluded that the grievance handling provisions in the agreement met the requirements of section 230(3) of the Act.

The FWC approved the NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd (NRG GOS) Enterprise Agreement 2014. The AMWU was granted leave to appeal the decision to the Federal Court. The FWC made an order that the agreement be registered from the date of the application.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established