Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd Summary

[2025] FWCA 1268

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd

(AG2025/899)

Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd Black Coal Enterprise Agreement 2025

Mining industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT BOYCE	SYDNEY, 16 APRIL 2025

Application for approval of the Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd Black Coal Enterprise Agreement 2025

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement to be known as the Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd Black Coal Enterprise Agreement 2025 (Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act). It has been made by Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd (Employer). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

In the application, the signatory page (as filed) contained no state or post code. The Applicant provided a revised signature page on 15 April 2025 to the Commission reflecting the required information. I am satisfied that the correction to the signature page should be made, and that it is appropriate to do so. Pursuant to s.586 of the Act, I make the correction.

Undertakings

The Employer has provided written undertakings dated 15 April 2025. Those undertakings are attached at Annexure A to this decision and become terms of the Agreement. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement (as compared to the relevant provisions of the Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2020), and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement.

NERR Issues

To the extent that the Commission raised an issue/s with the Employer as to NERR coverage versus Agreement coverage, and a bargaining representative appointment time limit,[1] having regard to the submissions of the Employer provided on 15 April 2025, I find that these issues constitute minor procedural and/or technical errors. I am satisfied that the Agreement was genuinely agreed to by relevant employees notwithstanding these errors.[2] I am also satisfied that the employees covered by the Agreement were not likely to have been disadvantaged by these errors.

Model flexibility clause

The Agreement does not contain a flexibility term that meets the requirements of the Act.

Employees were asked to vote to approve the agreement on 23 March 2025. Thus, pursuant to s.202(4) and Clause 107 of Schedule 1 of the Act, the model flexibility term as prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

Conclusion

Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188, 190, 193 and 193A of the Act, as are relevant to this application for approval, have been met.

I am satisfied the more beneficial entitlements of the NES will prevail where there is an inconsistency between the Agreement and the NES.

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 23 April 2025. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 16 April 2029.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Annexure A

[1] Note the requirements of ss. 173 and 174 of the Fair Work Act 2009.

[2] See s.188(5) of the Fair Work Act 2009 and Huntsman Chemical Co Australia Pty Ltd T/A RMAX Rigid Cellular Plastics & Others[2019] FWCFB 318.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of an enterprise agreement, the Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd Black Coal Enterprise Agreement 2025. The agreement was a single enterprise agreement that the employer sought to have approved under section 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The application was considered by the Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission, Boyce, who was satisfied that the requirements of the Act had been met.

The court had to decide whether the agreement met the requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009. This included considering whether the agreement was genuinely agreed to by relevant employees, whether it provided for more beneficial entitlements than the National Employment Standards, and whether it included a model flexibility term. The court also had to consider whether the employer's undertakings would cause financial detriment to employees or result in substantial changes to the agreement.

The Deputy President Boyce found that the agreement met the requirements for approval. The court was satisfied that the agreement was genuinely agreed to by relevant employees, despite minor procedural and technical errors. The court also found that the agreement provided for more beneficial entitlements than the National Employment Standards and included a model flexibility term. The employer's undertakings were also found not to cause financial detriment to employees or result in substantial changes to the agreement. The agreement was therefore approved and will operate from 23 April 2025, with a nominal expiry date of 16 April 2029.

Precision Energy Services (Australia) Pty Ltd

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established