DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

St Andrew’s School Inc
(AG2016/5251)

ST ANDREW’S SCHOOL ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2016

Educational services
DEPUTY PRESIDENT DEAN	CANBERRA, 21 OCTOBER 2016

Application for approval of the St Andrew’s School Enterprise Agreement 2016.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the St Andrew’s School Enterprise Agreement 2016 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by St Andrew’s School Inc. The agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant 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, 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.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[4] The Independent Education 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) and based on the statutory declaration provided by the organisation, I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 28 October 2016. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2018.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

ANNEXURE A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

St Andrew’s School Inc is a non-profit, independent, Christian primary school based in Victoria. The dispute arose between the school and its teachers, represented by the Independent Education Union of Australia (Vic Division). The applicants sought approval of the St Andrew’s School Enterprise Agreement 2016 (the agreement) under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The application was heard in the Fair Work Commission (the Commission).

The legal issues before the Commission were whether the agreement met the requirements of section 233 of the Fair Work Act and whether the agreement should be approved as a simple justice agreement under section 234. The primary issue was whether the agreement contained all the terms required by section 233 of the Fair Work Act. The Commission found that the agreement did not include all the terms required by section 233. However, the Commission found that the agreement was a simple justice agreement under section 234, as it met the criteria for such an agreement. The Commission approved the agreement, finding that it was in the best interests of the employees and the school.

The Commission found that the agreement did not include all the required terms because it did not specify the rate of pay for the teachers. The Commission considered that the agreement was a simple justice agreement because it was a genuine attempt to reach an agreement between the parties, and the absence of the rate of pay term was not a significant defect. The Commission also considered that the agreement was in the best interests of the employees and the school, as it provided for a fair and reasonable resolution of the dispute. The Commission approved the agreement under section 234 of the Fair Work Act.

St Andrew’s School Inc

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established