Broadspectrum (Australia) Pty Ltd v United Voice [2018] FCAFC 139

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Broadspectrum (Australia) Pty Ltd v United Voice [2018] FCAFC 139 File number: WAD 474 of 2017

Judges: BROMBERG, MORTIMER AND LEE JJ

Date of judgment: 27 August 2018

Catchwords: INDUSTRIAL LAW – Pt 2-4 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) ("FW Act") - the process for the making and approval of a single-enterprise agreement which is not a greenfields agreement ("single-enterprise (non-greenfields) agreement") under Div 4 of Pt 2-4 of the FW Act – approval of a single-enterprise (non-greenfields) agreement by the Fair Work Commission ("FWC") under s 186(1) of the FW Act – the nature of the requirement under s 172(2)(a) of the FW Act that an employer may make a single-enterprise (non-greenfields) agreement "with employees who are employed at the time the agreement is made and who will be covered by the agreement" – the requirement under s 186(2) of the FW Act that in approving a single-enterprise (non-greenfields) agreement the FWC be satisfied that "the agreement has been genuinely agreed to by the employees covered by an agreement" – the nature and content of the statutory task of the FWC under s 186(2)(a) of the FW Act – whether the FWC fell into jurisdictional error in assessing whether the relevant single-enterprise (non-greenfields) agreement ("Agreement") had been "genuinely agreed to" within the meaning of s 186(2)(a) of the FW Act by taking into account an irrelevant consideration, namely whether or not employees were "covered" by the Agreement at the time it was made in accordance with s 172(2)(a) of the FW Act – whether the FWC misconstrued s 186(2)(a) in determining that the relevant employees were not "covered" by the Agreement

Legislation: Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), Pt 2-4, ss 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 172, 182, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192