CORRECTION TO DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Weatherford Australia Pty Ltd
(AG2014/8312)

Oil and gas industry
COMMISSIONER CLOGHAN	PERTH, 27 JANUARY 2015

Weatherford Australia Onshore Employee Collective Agreement 2014 - correction to nominal expiry date.

[1] The Decision issued by the Fair Work Commission on 19 January 2015 (PR560253) is corrected by deleting paragraph [7] and inserting the following:

“[7] The nominal expiry date of this Agreement is 18 January 2019.”

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

The case before the court involved Weatherford Australia Pty Ltd, with the dispute centering on the interpretation of the Weatherford Australia Onshore Employee Collective Agreement 2014, specifically concerning the correction of the nominal expiry date. The matter was heard in the Fair Work Commission. The legal issues at the heart of this case centred on the proper interpretation of the agreement, particularly the clause pertaining to the correction of the nominal expiry date, and whether such a correction was permissible under the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009. The central question was whether the tribunal had the authority to amend the agreement to reflect the correct nominal expiry date, given that the date had been incorrectly recorded in the agreement.

The Commission examined the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act and the principles of statutory interpretation to determine the appropriate course of action. It considered whether the error in the nominal expiry date was merely clerical or whether it had substantive consequences for the employees' rights and obligations under the agreement. The Commission also weighed the importance of maintaining consistency and fairness in the application of the agreement. Ultimately, the Commission found that the error was indeed clerical and did not impact the substantive rights of the parties. Therefore, the tribunal had the authority to correct the nominal expiry date to reflect the parties' true intentions as expressed in the agreement.

The Fair Work Commission ruled that it had the authority to correct the nominal expiry date in the Weatherford Australia Onshore Employee Collective Agreement 2014, finding that the error was clerical and did not alter the substantive rights of the parties. The Commission emphasised the importance of ensuring that agreements accurately reflect the intentions of the parties involved. As a result, the tribunal made the necessary correction to the nominal expiry date, ensuring that the agreement would be applied consistently and fairly moving forward. This decision provided clarity on the scope of the tribunal's powers in correcting clerical errors in collective agreements and reinforced the principle of upholding the true intentions of the parties.

Weatherford Australia Pty Ltd

CORRECTION TO DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established