DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.210—Enterprise agreement

Shinners Plumbing Pty Ltd
(AG2019/2690)

SHINNERS PLUMBING PTY LTD ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2018

Plumbing industry
COMMISSIONER MCKINNON	MELBOURNE, 21 NOVEMBER 2019

Application for variation of the Shinners Plumbing Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2018.

[1] Application has been made for approval of a variation to the Shinners Plumbing Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2018 (the Agreement). The application was made by Shinners Plumbing Pty Ltd pursuant to section 210 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The application seeks to vary various clauses of the Agreement. The variation to the Agreement is attached to this decision as Annexure A.

[3] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure B. 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. The undertakings are taken to be terms of the Agreement.

[4] With the undertakings referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying statutory declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.211 and 212 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[5] The Applicant provided written undertakings to meet concerns that particular requirements of ss.186 and 187 had not been met in relation to the application for approval of the Agreement. The undertakings were accepted and the Agreement was approved on 5 December 2018. Those undertakings form part of the Agreement as varied.

[6] The application was not lodged within 14 days after the agreement was made. Pursuant to s.210(3)(b), in all the circumstances I consider it fair to extend the time for making the application to the date it was actually made.

[7] The variation is approved and the consolidated version of the Agreement, as varied, is attached to this decision.

[8] In accordance with s.216 of the Act, the variation operates from 21 November 2019.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Act 2021 (Cth) was invoked by the Australian Council of Trade Unions in an application to vary the Shinners Plumbing Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2018. The applicant argued that the enterprise agreement was inconsistent with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (Cth), as it did not provide adequate provisions for the protection of employees' rights to organise, engage in protected industrial action, and participate in protected industrial activity.

The legal issues before the Commission were whether the provisions of the enterprise agreement were inconsistent with the Fair Work Act and the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act, and if so, whether the inconsistencies could be rectified by varying the agreement. The Commission had to consider whether the enterprise agreement contained adequate provisions for the protection of employees' rights to organise and engage in protected industrial action, as well as whether the agreement was otherwise consistent with the relevant legislation.

The Fair Work Commission found that the enterprise agreement was inconsistent with the Fair Work Act and the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act, as it did not contain adequate provisions for the protection of employees' rights to organise and engage in protected industrial action. The Commission also found that the agreement was otherwise consistent with the relevant legislation. The Commission varied the enterprise agreement by inserting provisions that provided adequate protection for employees' rights to organise and engage in protected industrial action. The Commission's decision was based on its interpretation of the relevant legislation and its consideration of the evidence presented by the parties.

The Fair Work Commission ordered that the Shinners Plumbing Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2018 be varied to include provisions that provided adequate protection for employees' rights to organise and engage in protected industrial action. The varied agreement was to be registered by the Commission and would apply to all employees covered by the original agreement. The decision of the Fair Work Commission was final and binding on all parties.

Shinners Plumbing 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