[2025] FWC 2106

Fair Work Act 2009

s.739 - Dispute resolution

"Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU)

Alleged dispute about any matters arising under the enterprise agreement and the NES;[s186(6)]

• [1] On 4 June 2025, the "Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (the AMWU) made an application to the Fair Work Commission (the Commission) under s.739 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) seeking to resolve a dispute with Wood Group Australia Pty Ltd (Wood).

• [2] The dispute pertains to the availability roster under clause 18.5 of the Wood (Lytton Refinery - QLD) Mechanical Enterprise Agreement 2023 (the Agreement). The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 1 June 2026. The Agreement covers mechanical employees at the Ampol oil refinery in Lytton.

• [3] The availability roster requires mechanical employees to be on call in the event of unplanned emergency work required at the refinery.

• [4] I conducted a conciliation conference on 24 June 2025. The dispute was not resolved. In accordance with my powers under s.595 of the Act, I have decided to give an expression of my opinion.

Where management has assigned an employee to the availability roster, the employee, in addition to all other payments for each weekly period on the availability roster will be entitled to the weekly allowance below, which covers for 7-consecutive days on the availability roster. Pro rata (1/7th) of the weekly allowance will apply for any day (12:00midnight to 12:00 midnight) where the employee is not assigned to the roster for 7-consecutive days.

Employees will only be assigned to the availability roster on the basis that the employees commit themselves to be ready, willing and able during the roster availability period to return to the workplace at short notice. Provided the roster will be shared equitably, as an example only: if 8 employees are nominated for the availability roster then each employee will be required to be on the availability roster once in every 8 week cycle. Provided there will always be a minimum of 5 employees nominated for the availability roster. The make-up of this roster will be determined through consultation, taking into consideration the requirements of the client. At a minimum, one (1) Wood employee will be assigned to the availability roster each week.

• [6] Since late 2024, the employer has been rostering employees on a voluntary basis however the number of volunteers has declined significantly. Only a small number of 46 employees are in the volunteer pool for the roster, including, to his credit, the AMWU site delegate. The result is that the volunteer employees were rostered on-call more frequently. This led to those employees feeling burnt out.

• [7] To address the declining number of volunteers, Wood indicated in April 2025 that they would assign fitters to the roster. Employees would then be able to apply to Wood to seek to be removed from the roster based on their personal circumstances (for example, living too far away from the refinery or caring responsibilities).

• [8] The AMWU argues that Wood is seeking to "unilaterally" assign or "force-roster" employees in circumstances where the employee has not committed themselves to be ready, willing and able to perform work onsite at short notice.

• [9] Being rostered on-call is not uncommon in many industries. The union's position tends towards hyperbole (I note the union compared being allocated on the roster with conscription). It is not, in my view, a case where the employee's right to disconnect is in peril - the employees are paid for the time when they are on-call and they are notified in advance of when they will be on the roster.

• [10] It is unfortunate that the situation has arisen where many of the AMWU's members stopped volunteering for the roster and as a result of that, the burden was being borne by a small number of employees. The obvious consequence is that those employees were more frequently on-call. This has led to those employees feeling burnt out. This is a direct result of the conduct of the other employees. If more employees volunteered, then the burden could be shared equitably. The employer is responsible for the health and safety of its employees and in my view, the employer's new proposal is entirely reasonable. It balances the needs of the client, which is a relevant consideration under cl. 18.5, with individual personal circumstances which may prevent an employee being able to be on-call, while achieving an equitable result.

• [11] The second paragraph of clause 18.5 commences with a statement: "Employees will only be assigned to the availability roster on the basis that the employees commit themselves to be ready, willing and able during the roster availability period to return to the workplace at short notice." The Union argues that if employees were not required to volunteer themselves then the words "employees will only be assigned to the availability roster on the basis that..." would have no work to do. An alternative interpretation could be that, just as employees must be ready, willing and able to work for their normal shifts, if an employee is told that they will be assigned to the roster on a specific period, they must make themselves available and ready to work in that period.

• [12] The two subsequent sentences begin with "[p]rovided the roster will be shared equitably..." and "[p]rovided there will always be a minimum..." In context, the word "provided" acts as a qualification to the statement that employees will only be assigned to the availability roster on the basis that they "commit themselves" to be ready, willing and able to perform work onsite. Given both sentences could still function if the word "provided" were omitted, it follows that its inclusion must be a deliberate choice and should be given due effect. Therefore, the statement that employees must only be allocated on the roster if they "commit themselves" is qualified by the requirement that the roster be shared equitably and that there always be a minimum of 5 employees nominated for the roster. If the roster is not being shared equitably, then employees may be assigned to the roster so that the burden is shared equitably. If the number of volunteers falls below five, then the agreement certainly contemplates that the employees may be unilaterally assigned to the roster as it no longer possible for the roster to function with volunteers.

• [13] The second-last sentence of the relevant paragraph states: "The make-up of this roster will be determined through consultation, taking into consideration the requirements of the client." It is clear that there is scope for the make-up of the roster to be varied. The parties have engaged in consultation. The parties have agreed that only trade qualified fitters with six months experience in the team will be assigned to the roster and that the parties commit to maintaining a minimum of two employees for the roster each week.

• [14] I would caution the union and its members against withdrawing labour or refusing to attend when rostered onto the availability roster. The agreement has not yet passed its nominal expiry date. The employer retains the right to issue a lawful and reasonable direction to its employees.

• [15] I would recommend that the parties discuss the issue of the availability roster in negotiations for the next agreement. I note that the Commission has recently recommended an increase to the availability allowance for electricians on the same site.[1]

• [16] In my view, the union's interpretation focusses only on the first sentence of the second paragraph of clause 18.5, without considering the effect of the rest of the paragraph. Although I would certainly recommend improvements in the drafting of clause 18.5, its current text does not prevent employees being unilaterally assigned to the roster, as contended by the union.

[1] Application by Wood Australia Pty Ltd [2025] FWC 1573

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