Once bargaining is complete and a proposed agreement has been made, certain steps must be taken to make sure the agreement can be approved by the Fair Work Commission.
Once you complete the relevant forms and lodge your application with the Commission you will be sent a ‘service email’ by the Commission with a reference number (for example AG2020/54321).
A copy of the agreement will be published on the Commission’s Agreements in progress webpage. Organisations should refer to the Agreements in progress page on the Commission’s website for information on current agreement approval applications. Note that if no person contacts the Commission wishing to be heard, applications may be approved or refused no earlier than 7 business days from the date that the application was lodged.
You may be contacted by staff of the Commission who will check your application to ensure all relevant information has been provided and forms are complete.
The Agreements team will complete a pre-assessment of your application against the requirements of the Act. The agreement will then be allocated to a Member of the Commission who will determine whether the agreement can be approved.
You may receive correspondence from a Member, their Associate or the Agreements team in relation to your matter. The Member may request further information, an undertaking or a hearing if they have concerns with the application. Go to undertakings in enterprise agreements for more information.
If the agreement is approved, a copy of the Commission Member’s approval decision and the approved agreement with any undertakings and model terms will be posted on the Commission’s website and emailed to the parties. The agreement will come into operation 7 days after the Commission Member approves it, unless a later day is specified in the agreement.
Organisations not listed as bargaining representatives in the application can request access to enterprise agreement application approval documentation.
When an organisation is given access to application documentation it does not follow that the organisation is, or becomes a party to the application. Nor does it follow that the organisation has thereby obtained a right to be heard or to make submissions in relation to the application.
Unless an organisation is able to establish that it was a bargaining representative for the agreement, or that it has been given a right to be heard or to make a submission, an organisation will not be included in any correspondence, including notification of the Commission’s intention to determine the application, unless contacted by the presiding Member and advised otherwise.