Retro Traffic Pty Ltd

In this matter, Retro Traffic Pty Ltd sought approval for the Retro Traffic Enterprise Agreement 2018. The Fair Work Commission was the court that reviewed the application. The dispute centred on the terms of the proposed agreement and whether it met the statutory requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The legal issues that the Commission had to decide included whether the proposed agreement provided for the employees to be better off overall compared to their previous conditions. This involved a detailed examination of the financial and non-financial terms of the agreement and how they compared to the existing conditions of employment. Additionally, the Commission had to consider whether the agreement complied with the requirements of the Fair Work Act, including the necessity for the agreement to provide for employees to be no worse off overall.

The Commission found that the original application for approval was granted but was subsequently appealed by a party. The appeal was successful on the basis that the agreement did not leave all employees better off overall. Consequently, the Commission remitted the application for a further hearing and re-determination. During this process, revised undertakings were provided by the applicant. The operation of the shiftwork provisions in the relevant award was considered for comparative purposes. The Commission found that the night shift was the appropriate comparator given the provisions of the award and the operations of the employer. After considering the revised terms, the Commission determined that the agreement was capable of approval, subject to a further undertaking.

The final orders of the Commission included the approval of the agreement, subject to the employer providing a further undertaking that certain conditions would be met, ensuring that all employees would be no worse off overall. The agreement was thus approved with these conditions in place.