Fair Work Act 2009

The FWC may make a bargaining order under this section in relation to a proposed enterprise agreement if:

an application for the order has been made; and

the requirements of this section are met in relation to the agreement; and

the FWC is satisfied that it is reasonable in all the circumstances to make the order.

See also section 255A (limitations relating to greenfields agreements).

The FWC must be satisfied in all cases that one of the following applies:

the employer or employers have agreed to bargain, or have initiated bargaining, for the agreement;

the employer or employers have received a request to bargain under subsection 173(2A) in relation to the agreement;

a majority support determination in relation to the agreement is in operation;

a scope order in relation to the agreement is in operation;

all of the employers are specified in a supported bargaining authorisation that is in operation in relation to the agreement;

all of the employers are specified in a single interest employer authorisation that is in operation in relation to the agreement.

The FWC must in all cases be satisfied:

that:

one or more of the relevant bargaining representatives for the agreement have not met, or are not meeting, the good faith bargaining requirements; or

the bargaining process is not proceeding efficiently or fairly because there are multiple bargaining representatives for the agreement; and

that the applicant has complied with the requirements of subsection 229(4) (which deals with notifying relevant bargaining representatives of concerns), unless subsection 229(5) permitted the applicant to make the application without complying with those requirements.

The bargaining order must be in accordance with section 231 (which deals with what a bargaining order must specify).