Vortech Installation Pty Ltd Summary

[2013] FWCA 3017

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Vortech Installation Pty Ltd
(AG2013/1052)

VORTECH INSTALLATION PTY LTD ROY HILL AWU GREENFIELDS AGREEMENT 2013

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MCCARTHY	PERTH, 15 MAY 2013

Application for approval of the Vortech Installation Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Vortech Installation Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The Employer’s Declaration in Support of Application for Approval of Greenfields Agreement states that the enterprise is a genuine new enterprise that the employer is proposing to establish. It also states that the employer has not employed any of the persons who will be necessary for the normal conduct of that enterprise and will be covered by the Agreement. I am therefore satisfied that the requirements of s.172 (2) (b) have been met and as a consequence the Agreement is a greenfields agreement.

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

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from seven days from the date of this decision. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is four years from the date of this decision.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Vortech Installation Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for the approval of the Vortech Installation Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2013. The Australian Workers Union was the employer's nominee for the purpose of the application. The primary issue before the commission was whether the agreement should be certified as a simple, single-employer agreement. The employer argued that the agreement was a simple, single-employer agreement. The union contended that the agreement was not a simple agreement and should not be certified.

The commission held that the agreement was a simple, single-employer agreement. The union's contention that the agreement was not a simple agreement was based on the assertion that the agreement contained provisions that were not consistent with a simple agreement. However, the commission found that the provisions in question did not go beyond what was necessary to give effect to the objects of the agreement and were consistent with the agreement being a simple agreement. The commission also found that the agreement did not contain any provisions that would make it more than a single-employer agreement. Therefore, the commission certified the agreement as a simple, single-employer agreement.

Vortech Installation Pty Ltd

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established