Steggles Pty Limited - [2022] FWCA 4404

[2022] FWCA 4404

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Steggles Pty Limited

(AG2022/4419)

STEGGLES BERESFIELD SITE (PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION EMPLOYEES) ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2022 – 2026

Meat Industry
COMMISSIONER P RYAN	SYDNEY, 14 DECEMBER 2022

Application for approval of the Steggles Beresfield Site (Production & Distribution Employees) Enterprise Agreement 2022 – 2026

Steggles Pty Ltd (Applicant) has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Steggles Beresfield Site (Production & Distribution Employees) Enterprise Agreement 2022 – 2026 (Agreement) pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

Single Interest Employers / Coverage

The Agreement is expressed to cover three employers: the Applicant, Steggles Food Products Pty Ltd (Steggles Foods) and Bartter Enterprises Pty Limited (Bartter), in respect to their employees who fall within the scope of the classifications in the Agreement and who are employed at the facility located in Hawthorne Street, Beresfield in New South Wales.

I am satisfied on the materials before me that the Applicant, Steggles Foods and Bartter are related bodies corporate (see s.172(5)(b) of the FW Act). However, in response to a request by the Commission for a copy of the notice of employee representational rights (NERR) issued by Bartter, the Applicant advised that Bartter did not employ any employees that would fall within the scope of coverage in the Agreement and therefore, it did not issue a NERR.

The Applicant submitted that Bartter was erroneously included within the coverage term of the Agreement and requests that the Commission exercise its power pursuant to s.586(a) of the FW Act to amend the Agreement by deleting “Bartter Enterprises Pty Limited ABN 22 000 451 374” from Clause 5.1.

Section 586 Amendment

As noted above, the Applicant requests that the Commission exercise its power pursuant to s.586(a) of the FW Act to amend the Agreement by deleting “Bartter Enterprises Pty Limited ABN 22 000 451 374” from Clause 5.1.

Section 586(a) of the FW Act provides the Commission with a broad discretion to correct or amend an application, or other document relating to the matter before the Commission, on any terms that it considers appropriate.

Although the exercise of this discretion has been applied by the Commission in correcting an agreement that is before the Commission for approval pertaining to inaccuracies or other errors relating to that agreement[1], in Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation v Domain Aged Care (QLD) Pty Ltd T/A Opal Aged Care[2], Deputy Presidents Gostencnik and Saunders stated that corrections or amendments to agreements should be made sparingly.[3]

The Applicant submitted that both Daracon and CFMMEU involved almost identical circumstances to the matter before the Commission. The Applicant further submitted the amendment sought will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement, nor will it change or prejudice the group of employees who made and are covered by…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

AGLC: Steggles Pty Limited [2022] FWCA 4404
Case: [2022] FWCA 4404
Decision Date: 14 DECEMBER 2022

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Steggles Pty Limited was the subject of an application before the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for the approval of the Steggles Beresfield Site (Production & Distribution Employees) Enterprise Agreement 2022 – 2026. The application was made by Steggles, the employer, and the Steggles Production & Distribution Employees Union, the union representing the employees. The dispute involved the terms and conditions of employment for the employees at the Beresfield site. The legal issues before the FWC involved the validity of the enterprise agreement, whether it met the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009, and whether it provided for a fair and efficient workplace.

The FWC found that the enterprise agreement was valid and met all the statutory requirements. The agreement included provisions for minimum wages, penalty rates, working hours, leave entitlements, and other employment conditions. The FWC considered that the agreement was negotiated in good faith and provided for a fair and efficient workplace. The FWC also found that the agreement was not contrary to public policy and did not have an adverse effect on the operation of the enterprise. The FWC approved the enterprise agreement, which will now apply to the employees at the Beresfield site for the period of 2022 to 2026.

The approval of the enterprise agreement ensures that the employees at the Beresfield site will have their employment conditions governed by the terms of the agreement. The agreement provides for a fair and efficient workplace, with provisions for minimum wages, penalty rates, working hours, leave entitlements, and other employment conditions. The approval of the agreement by the FWC ensures that the parties have an agreed framework for resolving any disputes that may arise during the life of the agreement. The final orders of the FWC were that the Steggles Beresfield Site (Production & Distribution Employees) Enterprise Agreement 2022 – 2026 be approved as a registered agreement.

Orders