United Voice v Brisbane Executive Security Teams

United Voice (the applicant) sought to enforce an enterprise agreement against Brisbane Executive Security Teams (the respondent). The dispute concerned whether the respondent had breached the agreement by failing to pay its employees, who were engaged as security officers, the correct rates of pay and entitlements as stipulated in the agreement. The matter came before Judge Vasta in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.

The primary legal issue before the Commission was to determine whether the respondent had contravened the United Voice and Brisbane Executive Security Teams Enterprise Agreement 2017 (the Agreement) by failing to pay employees engaged as security officers the minimum rates of pay and entitlements prescribed by the Agreement. This involved interpreting the scope of the Agreement and the classification of the employees in question.

Judge Vasta found that the respondent had indeed breached the Agreement. The Commission reasoned that the employees performing security duties fell within the scope of the Agreement, notwithstanding the respondent's attempts to characterise them differently. The Court applied the principles of contractual interpretation to the Agreement, focusing on the plain meaning of the terms and the evident intention of the parties at the time of its making. The Commission concluded that the respondent's failure to pay the stipulated rates constituted a contravention of the Agreement.

The Commission ordered the respondent to pay the outstanding wages and entitlements to the affected employees.