DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Sutton Tools Pty Ltd
(AG2018/3655)

SUTTON TOOLS PTY LTD MARYBOROUGH OPERATIONS ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2018

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER HARPER-GREENWELL	MELBOURNE, 9 NOVEMBER 2018

Application for approval of the Sutton Tools Pty Ltd Maryborough Operations Enterprise Agreement 2018.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Sutton Tools Pty Ltd Maryborough Operations 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 Sutton Tools Pty Ltd. 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. The Agreement does not cover all of the employees of the employer, however, taking into account the factors in Section 186(3) and (3A) I am satisfied that the group of employees was fairly chosen.

[4] The application was not lodged within 14 days after the agreement was made. Pursuant to s.185(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.

[5] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) 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.

[6] The Agreement was approved on 9 November 2018 and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 16 November 2018. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 March 2021.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Sutton Tools Pty Ltd was before the Fair Work Commission in relation to an application for the approval of the Sutton Tools Pty Ltd Maryborough Operations Enterprise Agreement 2018. The matter involved the applicant, Sutton Tools Pty Ltd, and the respondent, a union representing the employees of the company. The dispute centred around whether the enterprise agreement, which was proposed by Sutton Tools, complied with the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 and whether it met the criteria for being a low-paid, low-awarded covered agreement.

The court was required to determine whether the enterprise agreement was a "low-paid, low-awarded covered agreement" as defined in the Fair Work Act. This required consideration of whether the agreement met the criteria set out in the Act, including the requirement that the agreement be a low-paid, low-awarded agreement. The court also needed to consider whether the agreement provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment for the employees covered by the agreement.

In its decision, the Fair Work Commission found that the Sutton Tools Pty Ltd Maryborough Operations Enterprise Agreement 2018 was a low-paid, low-awarded covered agreement. The Commission noted that the agreement provided for terms and conditions of employment that were fair and reasonable, and that it met all the criteria set out in the Fair Work Act. The Commission also found that the agreement had been negotiated in good faith and that it provided for adequate protections for the employees covered by the agreement. As a result, the Commission approved the enterprise agreement.

The Fair Work Commission approved the Sutton Tools Pty Ltd Maryborough Operations Enterprise Agreement 2018, finding that it was a low-paid, low-awarded covered agreement that met all the criteria set out in the Fair Work Act. The Commission found that the agreement provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment for the employees covered by the agreement and that it had been negotiated in good faith.

Sutton Tools 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