DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Pinnacle HR Pty Ltd
(AG2017/5352)

BETHSALEM CARE AGED CARE EMPLOYEES ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Aged care industry
COMMISSIONER WILSON	MELBOURNE, 23 MARCH 2018

Application for approval of the Bethsalem Care Aged Care Employees Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Bethsalem Care Aged Care Employees 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 Pinnacle HR Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] 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.

[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 United Voice and Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation 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 30 March 2018. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2019.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the case of Pinnacle HR Pty Ltd, the applicant, and the Fair Work Commission, the respondent, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was tasked with considering the application for approval of the Bethsalem Care Aged Care Employees Enterprise Agreement 2017. The applicant sought to have the agreement, which was negotiated between the employer and the employees, approved under the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute centred on whether the agreement complied with the statutory requirements for enterprise agreements, including the need for the agreement to provide for a good faith bargaining process, and whether it contained all the mandated terms and conditions.

The central legal issues the court needed to address were whether the agreement was genuinely an enterprise agreement and whether it had been made in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act. This included an examination of whether the agreement had been fairly negotiated and whether it included all the minimum terms and conditions that must be set out in an enterprise agreement. Additionally, the court needed to determine if the agreement met the requirement of providing for a good faith bargaining process.

In rendering its decision, the court analysed the content of the agreement and the process by which it was negotiated. The court found that the agreement had been genuinely negotiated and contained all the mandated minimum terms and conditions. The court was satisfied that the process followed was in line with the statutory requirements for good faith bargaining, and that there was no evidence of coercion or unfairness. Consequently, the court approved the Bethsalem Care Aged Care Employees Enterprise Agreement 2017, confirming its compliance with the legislative requirements.

The orders of the court were that the Bethsalem Care Aged Care Employees Enterprise Agreement 2017 be approved and registered, effective from the date of the decision. The court's approval meant that the agreement would now form the basis for the terms and conditions of employment for the employees within the specified enterprise.

Pinnacle HR 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