DECISION

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

Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited
(AG2015/2913)

WILMAR ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2015

Sugar industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT ASBURY	BRISBANE, 18 JUNE 2015

Application for approval of the Wilmar Enterprise Agreement 2015.

[1] Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited applies for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Wilmar Enterprise Agreement 2015 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] The Australian Workers’ Union, the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia and the “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have each given notice under s.183 of the Act that these organisations want the Agreement to cover them. In accordance with s.201(2) of the Act I note that the Agreement covers these organisations.

[3] 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.

[4] The Agreement is approved, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 25 June 2015. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 1 December 2018.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case involved Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited, which applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the Wilmar Enterprise Agreement 2015. The applicant sought to have the agreement recognised as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute centred on whether the agreement met the statutory requirements for registration, including whether it contained the necessary provisions and whether the appropriate consultation and negotiation processes were followed.

The legal issues the court had to address included whether the agreement contained all the mandated provisions, such as minimum wages and penalty rates, and whether the agreement was made in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act. The court also needed to determine if the agreement was genuinely negotiated and whether the process of consultation and negotiation complied with the requirements of the Act. Additionally, the court considered whether the agreement unfairly disadvantaged any group of employees and whether it provided for the resolution of disputes.

In its decision, the Fair Work Commission found that the agreement contained all the necessary provisions and was made in compliance with the Act. The Commission noted that the applicant had followed the appropriate consultation and negotiation processes and that the agreement was genuinely negotiated. The Commission concluded that the agreement did not unfairly disadvantage any group of employees and that it provided for the resolution of disputes. Based on these findings, the Commission approved the agreement and ordered that it be registered as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act.

Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established