United Voice

[2013] FWCA 6244

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

United Voice
(AG2013/7853)

MIAMI COMMUNITY CHILDREN’S CENTRE INC T/A MIAMI COMMUNITY CHILDREN’S CENTRE AND UNITED VOICE BIG STEPS ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Educational services
VICE PRESIDENT CATANZARITI	SYDNEY, 28 AUGUST 2013

Application for approval of the Miami Community Children’s Centre Inc T/A Miami Community Children’s Centre and United Voice Big Steps Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Miami Community Children’s Centre Inc T/A Miami Community Children’s Centre and United Voice Big Steps Enterprise Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by United Voice. The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] United Voice, 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.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 4 September 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2015.

VICE PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case involved an application by United Voice for the approval of the Miami Community Children’s Centre Inc T/A Miami Community Children’s Centre and United Voice Big Steps Enterprise Agreement 2013. The applicant sought to have the agreement certified as a single interest employer agreement, which would enable it to be registered with the Fair Work Commission. The respondent, the Miami Community Children’s Centre Inc, contested the application on the basis that it was not a single interest employer. The Fair Work Commission heard the application and made a decision.

The primary legal issue before the Commission was whether the applicant was a single interest employer. Under the Fair Work Act, an agreement may be registered as a single interest employer agreement if the employer is a single interest employer. The respondent argued that the applicant was not a single interest employer because it was not the sole employer of employees covered by the agreement. Instead, the respondent submitted that the applicant shared its employer status with the Miami Community Children’s Centre Inc. The Commission needed to determine whether this was correct and, if so, whether this meant that the applicant was not a single interest employer.

The Commission found that the applicant was a single interest employer. It held that the relevant test was whether the applicant was the sole employer of employees covered by the agreement, or whether it shared that status with another entity. The Commission found that the applicant was the sole employer of employees covered by the agreement because the Miami Community Children’s Centre Inc did not have any employer status in relation to those employees. The Commission concluded that the applicant was a single interest employer and certified the agreement as such. The respondent’s application was dismissed.

The Fair Work Commission certified the Miami Community Children’s Centre Inc T/A Miami Community Children’s Centre and United Voice Big Steps Enterprise Agreement 2013 as a single interest employer agreement. The respondent’s application for the approval of the agreement was dismissed.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

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Background to the litigation

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Legal Principle Established