Application for approval of the REZ Civil Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2026-2030

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the REZ Civil Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2026-2030 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by REZ Civil Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Employer has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188, 193 and 193A as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[4] The Agreement covers two employees and is to operate throughout Australia; this raised initial concerns whether the employees entitled to vote are sufficiently representative and have sufficient interest. I accept the Applicant's submissions, and I am satisfied that s.188(2) of the Act and principle 17 of the Statement of Principles has been met for the following reasons:

• The two employees are construction workers, and the scope of the Agreement exclusively covers on-site construction work. The scope of the Agreement applies to work the Applicant performs or anticipates it will perform in the near future.

• The Agreement is limited to a handful of on-site construction occupations. The occupations covered are not materially different from one another. For example, the principal difference between a labourer and an excavator operator, boom pump operator and crane crew, are that these occupations require additional tickets and training to reach these levels. Such training is readily attainable. In this way, the classification structure provides a progression pathway for employees to upskill, gain a further qualification and receive higher rates of pay.

• The wide geographical coverage is due to the business seeking to perform work in regional and remote areas across Australia. While based in Victoria, the Applicant will be performing work associated with the renewables sector. Having wide coverage ensures that employees are not disadvantaged when performing work in other States and Territories.

• Should the Agreement not have coverage that is Australia wide, employees would fall outside the scope of the Agreement, and the terms of the modern award would apply, resulting in unfairness to employees. In addition, this would create a practical issue for the Applicant, as its workforce would have reluctance to work regionally unless the same rates apply for regional or remote work. The Agreement contains rates of pay that are considerably more than the minimum rates and employees would receive better entitlements than contained in the applicable modern award. Coverage under the Agreement is better off overall than having coverage under the Modern Award.

[5] The Agreement is approved and in accordance with s.54, will operate from 20 February 2026. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 13 February 2030.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer