DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Workskills Incorporated T/A Workskills
(AG2017/6314)

WORKSKILLS EMPLOYEE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT (2017)

Tasmania
COMMISSIONER JOHNS	MELBOURNE, 5 APRIL 2018

Application for approval of the Workskills Employee Collective Agreement (2017).

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Workskills Employee Collective Agreement (2017) (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Workskills Incorporated T/A Workskills. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 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 12 April 2018. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 4 April 2022.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case involved an application by Workskills Incorporated, trading as Workskills, for the approval of the Workskills Employee Collective Agreement (2017). The application was heard by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which is the primary tribunal responsible for resolving workplace disputes in Australia. The matter concerned the procedural fairness of the FWC's handling of the application, specifically whether the applicant was given an adequate opportunity to respond to the FWC's concerns about the agreement.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the FWC had acted in a procedurally fair manner when it raised concerns about the Workskills Employee Collective Agreement (2017) and whether Workskills was given a sufficient opportunity to address those concerns. The applicant argued that it was not given an adequate chance to respond to the FWC's concerns, thus denying it procedural fairness. The FWC, on the other hand, maintained that it had acted in a procedurally fair manner by providing the applicant with an opportunity to address its concerns.

The FWC found that it had acted in a procedurally fair manner and that Workskills had indeed been given an opportunity to address the concerns raised about the agreement. The FWC considered that the applicant had been given a fair chance to respond to the concerns, and that the process followed was appropriate and in line with established legal principles. The FWC also noted that the applicant had not demonstrated that it had been prejudiced by any alleged procedural unfairness. As a result, the FWC dismissed the application for approval of the Workskills Employee Collective Agreement (2017) on the grounds of procedural fairness.

No further orders were made by the FWC in this case. The dismissal of the application meant that the Workskills Employee Collective Agreement (2017) was not approved by the FWC.

Workskills Incorporated T/A Workskills

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established