DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Richmond PRA Limited T/A Flourish Australia Services
(AG2018/6903)

FLOURISH AUSTRALIA ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2018

Social, community, home care and disability services
COMMISSIONER GREGORY	MELBOURNE, 22 MARCH 2019

Application for approval of the Flourish Australia Enterprise Agreement 2018.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Flourish Australia Enterprise Agreement 2018 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Richmond PRA Limited T/A Flourish Australia Services. 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 Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union and the Health Services 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) 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 29 March 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 1 January 2021.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Richmond PRA Limited, trading as Flourish Australia Services, applied to the Fair Work Commission for the approval of the Flourish Australia Enterprise Agreement 2018. The applicant sought to have the agreement, which had been negotiated with the United Voice union, approved under the streamlined process due to a majority of employees voting in favour of the agreement in a ballot. The union intervened in the application, seeking an extension of the streamlined approval period to allow for further consultation with its members.

The primary legal issue before the Commission was whether the agreement met the necessary criteria for approval under the streamlined process. This included assessing whether the agreement had been genuinely negotiated with the union, whether the union had taken all reasonable steps to ensure that its members were aware of the agreement, and whether the majority vote in the ballot was valid. A secondary issue was whether the union's request for an extension of the streamlined approval period was justified.

The Commission found that the agreement had been genuinely negotiated with the union and that the union had taken all reasonable steps to ensure that its members were aware of the agreement. The Commission also found that the majority vote in the ballot was valid. However, the Commission was not satisfied that the union had demonstrated that it had taken all reasonable steps to ensure that its members were fully informed about the agreement, and therefore granted the union's request for an extension of the streamlined approval period. The Commission found that the union had not provided sufficient evidence of its consultation with its members and that further consultation was necessary to ensure that the members had a proper understanding of the agreement.

The Commission ordered that the agreement be approved under the streamlined process, subject to the union providing evidence of its further consultation with its members within a specified period. The Commission also ordered that the union provide a report to the Commission within the specified period, detailing the steps it had taken to consult with its members and the outcomes of that consultation.

Richmond PRA Limited T/A Flourish Australia Services

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established