A yes vote wasn't enough - here's the step that sank this first-time agreement
A small firm's first enterprise agreement collapsed at the Fair Work Commission - not over pay, but over what the company didn't explain.
The Fair Work Commission has refused to approve an enterprise agreement for a high-voltage and switchboards business, and the reason should give every HR and industrial relations team pause: the company couldn't show it had properly explained the deal to its own staff.
On May 26, 2026, Commissioner Simpson dismissed the application to approve the P.H.E HV and Switchboards Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2026.
The setup was modest. Phe Hv And Switchboards applied on March 20, 2026 to have its first enterprise agreement approved. Nine employees were covered, all under the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award 2020. Eight voted. Five voted in favour.
The CEPU union stepped in with objections, even though it accepted it didn't represent any of the workers. The Commissioner heard it out anyway. The union ran a wide set of arguments: that the employee group wasn't fairly chosen, that the voters had no real stake, that they weren't representative enough, and that the employer hadn't explained the agreement properly.
Most of that didn't stick. The Commissioner found the group was fairly chosen. He found the voters had sufficient interest and were sufficiently representative, pointing out that all nine award-covered employees would fall under the...
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