VicForests
[2022] FWCA 3411
•4 OCTOBER 2022
| [2022] FWCA 3411 |
| FAIR WORK COMMISSION |
| DECISION |
Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement
VicForests
(AG2022/3897)
VicForests Enterprise Agreement 2020
| Timber and paper products industry | |
| DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN | MELBOURNE, 4 OCTOBER 2022 |
Application for approval of the VicForests Enterprise Agreement 2020
VicForests has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the VicForests Enterprise Agreement 2020 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.
While the application is generally in order, not all employees were provided with all of the voting instructions 7 clear days before the vote. However, in all the circumstances, and having regard to the decision of the Full Bench in Huntsman Chemical Company Australia Pty Limited T/A RMAX Rigid Cellular Plastics & Others,[1] I am satisfied that this constitutes a minor procedural or technical error for the purposes of s 188(2)(a) and that the employees covered by the Agreement are not likely to have been disadvantaged by the error. As a result, I am satisfied that the Agreement has been genuinely agreed within the meaning of s 188(2) of the Act.
The employer has provided a written undertaking, a copy of which is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertaking will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that it will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertaking is taken to be a term of the Agreement.
Subject to the undertaking referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss 186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval has been met.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), 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) and based on its declaration, I note that the Agreement covers the CPSU.
The Agreement was approved on 4 October 2022 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 11 October 2022. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 1 November 2024.
DEPUTY PRESIDENT
Annexure A
[1] [2019] FWCFB 318
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