s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Application for approval of the Employment Agreement

• [1] An application has been made for approval of the Employment Agreement (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to section 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) by MD Marufur Rahman (the Applicant). The Agreement is identified by the Applicant as a single enterprise agreement.

• [2] The Applicant filed the application with the Commission on 18 October 2025. The application consisted of the Form F16 only. Neither a Form F17 nor a signed copy of the Agreement was filed.

• [3] The content contained in the Form F16 filed led Commission staff to contact the Applicant on 20 October 2025 by the email address used for filing the application, advising that the application did not include a copy of the Agreement, F17 Employer Declaration, or any other supporting material such as the Notice of Employee Representation Rights (the NERR). The Applicant was requested to provide a phone number that he could be contacted to discuss the matter further. Further correspondence was sent to the Applicant on 23 October 2025 and 29 October 2025. The latter correspondence requested a response by 4pm on 30 October 2025. No response was received from the Applicant. Consequently, I turn to consider the application on the material before me.

• [4] The Act sets out a number of statutory approval requirements for enterprise agreements. Relevantly, an application for approval of an enterprise agreement must be accompanied by a signed copy of the agreement[1] and any declarations that are required by the procedural rules to accompany the application[2]. Absent the provision of a signed agreement and completed Form F17, the application cannot have been properly made. In these circumstances I am not satisfied that the requirements of ss 185(2)(a) and 185(2)(b) have been met. As set out above, unsuccessful attempts have been made by Commission staff to contact the Applicant, however no response has been received.

In the above circumstances the application for approval of the Employment Agreement has not been properly made and must therefore be dismissed. An order giving effect to this decision will be separately issued.

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