RPQ Services Pty Ltd Summary

[2024] FWCA 749

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

RPQ Services Pty Ltd

(AG2024/223)

RPQ SERVICES PTY LTD ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2023

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT EASTON	SYDNEY, 27 FEBRUARY 2024

Application for approval of the RPQ Services Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2023.

RPQ Services Pty Ltd (the Employer) has made an application for the approval of the RPQ Services Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2023 (the Agreement). The application was made under s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

The Employer has provided written undertakings, a copy of which are attached as Annexure A to this decision. The undertakings can be accepted under s.190 of the Act because I am satisfied that they will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the agreement pursuant to s.191 of the Act.

Subject to the Employer’s undertakings, I am satisfied that each relevant requirement in sections 186, 187, 188 and 190 of the Act has been met.

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 5 March 2024. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 27 February 2028.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

RPQ Services Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for the approval of an enterprise agreement. The applicants are RPQ Services Pty Ltd, and the respondents are various employees represented by the Transport Workers Union of Australia. The dispute centres on the terms of a proposed enterprise agreement, specifically addressing wages, conditions of employment, and other workplace provisions. The Fair Work Commission was tasked with determining whether the agreement met the necessary criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The primary legal issues before the Commission were whether the agreement provided for the proper payment of minimum rates of pay and other entitlements, and whether it complied with the procedural requirements for the approval of an enterprise agreement. The Commission had to assess whether the agreement was in the best interests of the employees it covered and whether it was made in good faith and without coercion.

In delivering its decision, the Commission found that the proposed agreement did not adequately provide for the payment of minimum rates of pay and other entitlements as required by the Fair Work Act. The Commission also noted procedural deficiencies in the manner in which the agreement was developed and presented. Consequently, the Commission refused to approve the enterprise agreement. The decision emphasised the importance of ensuring that enterprise agreements meet both substantive and procedural standards to protect the interests of employees.

The Fair Work Commission ordered that the application for approval of the RPQ Services Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2023 be dismissed. The Commission directed the parties to return to the negotiating table to address the deficiencies identified in the decision and to develop a new agreement that meets all legal requirements and adequately protects the interests of the employees.

RPQ Services Pty Ltd

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established