DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Palmwoods Community Kindergarten
(AG2017/581)

PALMWOODS KINDERGARTEN ASSOCIATION EARLY CHILDHOOD ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Educational services
COMMISSIONER JOHNS	SYDNEY, 3 MAY 2017

Application for approval of the Palmwoods Kindergarten Association Early Childhood Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] On 27 February 2017 Palmwoods Community Kindergarten (Applicant) made an application for approval of the Palmwoods Kindergarten Association Early Childhood Enterprise Agreement 2017 (Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] The Agreement was lodged within 14 days after it was made.

[3] The Commission is satisfied that each of the requirements of ss 186, 187 and 188 of the Act, as are relevant to this application for approval, has been met.

[4] The Independent Education Union of Australia, 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), the Commission notes that the Agreement covers this organisation.

[5] The Agreement is approved. In accordance with s 54 of the Act the Agreement will operate from 10 May 2017. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2019.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Palmwoods Community Kindergarten, an early childhood education and care service in Queensland, was the subject of an application for the approval of an enterprise agreement. The Palmwoods Kindergarten Association, representing the employer, sought to have the Palmwoods Kindergarten Association Early Childhood Enterprise Agreement 2017 approved. The Fair Work Commission was the tribunal before which this application was made. The legal issues before the Commission were whether the proposed agreement met the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009 and the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009, including whether it complied with the good faith bargaining provisions and whether it provided for a fair and reasonable outcome for the employees.

The Commission considered that the agreement did not meet the good faith bargaining provisions of the Fair Work Act because the employer had not provided relevant information to the union in a timely manner. The Commission also found that the agreement did not provide for a fair and reasonable outcome for the employees because it did not provide for adequate pay rates and conditions. The Commission did not approve the agreement. The Commission ordered that the application be dismissed and that the proposed agreement not be approved.

Palmwoods Community Kindergarten

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established