We recently reported on a decision by Commissioner Smith of FWA not to approve an enterprise agreement covering a Woolworths subsidiary on the basis that parties to the dispute had to agree to give an outside party the power to arbitrate any disputes under the agreement's disputes procedure. In his view, the requirement of the Act Fair Work that the agreement must have a process to 'settle' disputes meant compulsory arbitration where they could not be resolved by conciliation.
Thankfully, this decision has been overturned by a Full Bench on the basis that "other relevant parts of the Fair Work Act do not support the conclusion the Commissioner reached, rather they tell strongly against it."
Our Comment - this is a common sense decision when unfortunately our experience of some decisions emerging from Fair Work Australia show a variety of interpretations of its intent which appear to be based more on the political persuasion of the individual Commissioner than a measured consideration of the clear intent of the legislation.
GA Conversion Tracking:
Article Discussion