Application by DPW Plant Hire Pty Ltd Trading AS DPW Plant Hire
Citation: [2026] FWCA 2020
At a glance
- Employees affected
- 31
- Awards cited
- MA000020, MA000064
What happened
DPW Plant Hire Pty Ltd applied to have its enterprise agreement, the DPW Plant Hire Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2026 (NSW), approved. The agreement would cover employees under either the Mobile Crane Hiring Award 2020 or the Building and Construction General On-Site Award 2020. Five casual employees were initially identified as eligible to vote, but it was later confirmed seven casual employees were entitled to participate. Concerns arose regarding whether employees had sufficient time to consider and vote on the agreement, and whether certain apprentices and supported wage system employees would be better off overall compared to their relevant awards.
What was decided
The Fair Work Commission approved the DPW Plant Hire Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2026 (NSW). The Commission found a procedural error occurred in notifying employees about when voting commenced, but considered it minor. It also identified issues regarding whether apprentices and supported wage system employees would be better off overall under the agreement. The employer provided undertakings to address these concerns, which were accepted as terms of the agreement. The agreement will operate from August 7, 2026, and expire on July 31, 2030.
What it means for employers
Employers seeking approval for enterprise agreements must ensure employees are given adequate time to consider and vote on the agreement. They also need to carefully assess whether all employees will be better off overall compared to relevant awards, addressing any potential disadvantages with undertakings.
What it means for employees
Employees should review enterprise agreements thoroughly before voting and understand how they compare to existing award conditions. If concerns arise about whether an agreement is genuinely beneficial, seek advice from a union or the Fair Work Commission.
Want this applied to your situation?
Reading the decision is free. FairWork Mate goes further — it reads the full case library and applies precedents like this one to your specific facts, citing the cases as it reasons. General information, not a guaranteed outcome or legal advice.
Every statement above is drawn from the published decision. Read the original here:
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/decisionssigned/pdf/2026fwca2020.pdfWant more cases like this?
FairWork Mate tracks Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Commission and Federal Court decisions across Australia. The AI advisor answers plain-English questions grounded on the full corpus — awards cited, industry, penalty amounts and affected employee counts — with a citation to the underlying decision on every answer.
Individual case summaries on this site are free. The full FWC and Federal Court library behind every advisor answer is on Pro.
FairWork Mate AI
This is one decision. Pro reads all of them.
Free case pages cite the top 250 decisions. Pro opens the full Fair Work Commission and Federal Court library, cross-references your own situation against it, and cites the decision behind every answer — plus document upload, so it can read your letter or contract line by line. 150 questions a month, cancel anytime.
Just need this week sorted? A 7-Day Pass is 50 questions over 7 days, no account. Get a 7-Day Pass — $14.99
Get notified on new Fair Work cases
Free email alerts when we publish new underpayment decisions, penalty orders, and workplace law updates.
Free forever. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
This summary was drafted from the published decision and reviewed before publishing. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or a qualified lawyer. About these summaries & corrections