DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd
(AG2017/3494)

PEERLESS HOLDINGS PTY LTD (PACKHOUSE, WAREHOUSE, TANK FARM, HYDROGENATION PLANT) ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing industry
COMMISSIONER MCKINNON	MELBOURNE, 18 OCTOBER 2017

Application for approval of the Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd (Packhouse, Warehouse, Tank Farm, Hydrogenation Plant) Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd (Packhouse, Warehouse, Tank Farm, Hydrogenation Plant) Enterprise Agreement 2017 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant 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.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, 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.

[4] The National Union of Workers 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) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 25 October 2017. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 April 2020.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd was the subject of an application for the approval of an enterprise agreement under section 228 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The applicant, Peerless, sought approval for the Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd (Packhouse, Warehouse, Tank Farm, Hydrogenation Plant) Enterprise Agreement 2017. The application was heard by the Fair Work Commission, which is the body responsible for approving such agreements under the Act.

The legal issues before the Commission centred on whether the proposed agreement met the requirements set out in the Fair Work Act for it to be approved. Specifically, the Commission needed to determine if the agreement contained all the necessary elements, was free from prohibited content, and did not contravene the Act's objectives of maintaining a fair and efficient industrial relations system. Given that the agreement involved various categories of employees across multiple work sites, the Commission also had to consider whether the agreement was sufficiently broad to cover all intended employees.

The Commission found that the agreement complied with the Act. It contained all the necessary elements, such as details about pay and conditions, and was free from prohibited content. The Commission also noted that the agreement did not contravene the objectives of the Act. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement was appropriately broad to cover all intended employees across the various sites. As a result, the Commission approved the agreement under section 228 of the Fair Work Act 2009.

The Fair Work Commission approved the Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd (Packhouse, Warehouse, Tank Farm, Hydrogenation Plant) Enterprise Agreement 2017. The approval was based on the finding that the agreement met all the statutory requirements, did not contain prohibited content, and aligned with the objectives of the Fair Work Act. The agreement now serves as a binding contract between Peerless and the relevant employees.

Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established