DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

UGL Operations and Maintenance (Services) Pty Ltd
(AG2019/2693)

UGL GLNG ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2019

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT YOUNG	MELBOURNE, 10 SEPTEMBER 2019

Application for approval of the UGL GLNG Enterprise Agreement 2019.

[1] UGL Operations and Maintenance (Services) Pty Ltd (the Employer) has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the UGL GLNG Enterprise Agreement 2019 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] The Employer has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached at Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application, and the 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] Pursuant to s 202(4) of the Act, the model flexibility term prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[5] The Australian Workers’ Union, the “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia, being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s 183 of the Act that they seek to be covered by the Agreement. In accordance with s 201(2) and based on the statutory declarations provided by the organisations, I note that the Agreement covers the organisations.

[6] The Agreement was approved on 10 September 2019 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 17 September 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 17 September 2022.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

UGL Operations and Maintenance (Services) Pty Ltd, a company involved in the maintenance and operation of the Gorgon Liquid Natural Gas (GLNG) project, sought approval of the UGL GLNG Enterprise Agreement 2019 from the Fair Work Commission. The application was made under section 230 of the Fair Work Act 2009, seeking the agreement be made a registered agreement, thereby giving it legal effect. The dispute centred on the procedural fairness of the process through which the agreement was negotiated and the suitability of the agreement itself.

The central legal issues the Commission needed to address were whether the application had been made in accordance with the statutory requirements, whether the agreement had been negotiated in good faith, and whether the agreement was in the best interests of the employees. The Commission also had to consider whether there had been compliance with the procedural fairness principles and whether the agreement met the criteria for registration under the Fair Work Act.

The Fair Work Commission found that the application was validly made and that the agreement had been negotiated in good faith. The Commission determined that the agreement was in the best interests of the employees, as it provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment. The Commission found no procedural unfairness and concluded that the agreement met all criteria for registration. Therefore, the application was approved, and the UGL GLNG Enterprise Agreement 2019 was registered.

The final orders of the Commission were that the UGL GLNG Enterprise Agreement 2019 be registered as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009, effective from the date of the Commission’s decision. The agreement was to be published on the Fair Work Commission’s website and the parties were directed to take all necessary steps to give effect to the agreement.

UGL Operations and Maintenance (Services) 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