CPSU, Community & Public Sector Union v Stellar Call Centres Pty Ltd [1999] FCA 1224

CPSU, Community & Public Sector Union v Stellar Call Centres Pty Ltd [1999] FCA 1224

Stellar was a successor of Telstra in relation to part of Telstra's customer call centre business because Stellar performed work that otherwise would have been done by Telstra itself, the Robina centre functioned as a seamless part of Telstra's sales centre services, and there was substantial identity between the work of Stellar employees and Telstra call centre employees. Sections 149(1)(d) and 170MB(1) did not require a legal transfer of assets or that the part of the business transmitted be a free standing commercially viable business. The Telstra awards and certified agreements therefore applied to the relevant Stellar employees, and refusal of entry to CPSU officers entitled to enter...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
03 September 1999
Procedural Posture
Industrial Law Applications for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief and Penalty Concerning Application of Awards and Certified Agreements After Outsourcing / Final Judgment and Orders
Outcome
Applications granted; declarations and injunction made; penalty imposed on Stellar Call Centres Pty Limited.
Legal Topics
['application of Awards and Certified Agreements' 'transmission of Business' 'outsourcing' 'successor, Assignee or Transmittee' 'right of Entry' 'civil Penalty']
['industrial Law' 'workplace Relations'] ['application of Awards and Certified Agreements' 'transmission of Business' 'outsourcing' 'successor, Assignee or Transmittee' 'right of Entry' 'civil Penalty']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Industrial Law Applications for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief and Penalty Concerning Application of Awards and Certified Agreements After Outsourcing / Final Judgment and Orders

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether Stellar Call Centres Pty Limited was a successor, assignee or transmittee of part of Telstra's business within the meaning of s149(1)(d) and/or s170MB(1) of the Workplace Relations Act 1996." 'Whether awards and certified agreements binding Telstra in respect of customer call centre employees applied to Stellar employees performing Telstra call centre work at Robina.' 'Whether the transmitted part of a business must itself be a free standing commercially viable business.' 'Whether Stellar contravened right of entry provisions by refusing entry to CPSU officers and employees.']

Ratio Decidendi

Stellar was a successor of Telstra in relation to part of Telstra's customer call centre business because Stellar performed work that otherwise would have been done by Telstra itself, the Robina centre functioned as a seamless part of Telstra's sales centre services, and there was substantial identity between the work of Stellar employees and Telstra call centre employees. Sections 149(1)(d) and 170MB(1) did not require a legal transfer of assets or that the part of the business transmitted be a free standing commercially viable business. The Telstra awards and certified agreements therefore applied to the relevant Stellar employees, and refusal of entry to CPSU officers entitled to enter...

Court Disposition

Applications granted; declarations and injunction made; penalty imposed on Stellar Call Centres Pty Limited.

Orders

  • ['Declared in N241 of 1999 that, in relation to employees of Stellar Call Centres Pty Limited engaged on work required to be done in performance of any contract substantially to the effect of exhibit SM15, the Telstra/CPSU Consolidated Award 1996 [Print N7759] and Telstra Corporation General Conditions of Service...