DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a greenfields agreement

The Trustee for Professional Video & Hi-Fi Unit Trust T/A Videopro
(AG2015/1346)

THE TRUSTEE FOR PROFESSIONAL VIDEO & HI-FI UNIT TRUST & CEPU ELECTRICAL DIVISION QUEENSLAND ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2015 - 2016

Electrical contracting industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT LAWRENCE	SYDNEY, 18 JUNE 2015

Application for approval of The Trustee for Professional Video & Hi-Fi Unit Trust & CEPU Electrical Division Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2015-2016.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as The Trustee for Professional Video & Hi-Fi Unit Trust & CEPU Electrical Division Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2015-2016 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 f the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) by The Trustee for Professional Video & Hi-Fi Unit Trust T/A Videopro. The Agreement is a greenfields agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss186 and 187 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met. In particular, I am satisfied that the employee organisation, the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia, is entitled to represent the industrial interests of a majority of employees who will be covered by the Agreement in relation to work that is to be performed under it. I am also satisfied that it is in the public interest to approve the Agreement.

[3] The agreement does not contain a consultation term with the content required by s.205(1) and (1A). Accordingly, in accordance with s.205(2), the model consultation term contained in Schedule 2.3 of the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is taken to be a term of the agreement.

[4] The Agreement is approved. In accordance with s.54(1), it will operate from 25 June 2015. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 November 2016.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Trustee for Professional Video & Hi-Fi Unit Trust, trading as Videopro, applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the CEPU Electrical Division Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2015-2016. This application followed a dispute between Videopro and the Electrical Trade Union of Australia (ETUA) over the terms and conditions of employment within Videopro’s business. The nature of the dispute was primarily concerned with the procedural and substantive fairness of the proposed enterprise agreement.

The central legal issues that the Commission had to address were whether the proposed agreement complied with the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009, including whether the agreement was made in good faith and whether it met the criteria for being a "simple, fair and flexible" agreement. Furthermore, the Commission needed to consider whether the agreement provided for appropriate minimum terms and conditions for the employees, and whether it was certified by an independent certifier without objections.

In reaching its decision, the Commission examined the process by which the agreement was negotiated and the content of the agreement itself. The Commission noted that the agreement was negotiated in good faith and that it provided for minimum terms and conditions that were not less favourable than the applicable award or safety net. The Commission also found that the agreement was flexible and simple, and that it did not contain any unreasonable terms. After considering all the evidence and arguments, the Commission approved the CEPU Electrical Division Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2015-2016. The Commission concluded that the agreement met all the statutory requirements and would serve the interests of the employees and employers fairly.

The Trustee for Professional Video & Hi-Fi Unit Trust T/A Videopro

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established