A modern award covers an employee only if the award is expressed to cover that employee, the award is in operation, and no other provision of the Fair Work Act provides that the modern award does not apply to that employee.

The 'substantial character' of an enterprise is determined by reference to the trade or business of the employer and all of its employees and requires consideration of the business as a whole. An enterprise's character must be substantial (not merely incidental) before grounding conclusion that the enterprise is in a particular industry.

Where an employer is covered by more than one award, an employee of that employer is covered by the award classification which is most appropriate to the work performed by the employee and to the environment in which the employee normally performs the work (s.47 of the Fair Work Act 2009).

The Panel must establish and maintain a fair and relevant minimum safety net that considers relative living standards and needs of the low paid, taking into account that the real value of award wages at higher classifications has fallen due to successive flat-dollar increases.

It is in the public interest to generally maintain the award as the minimum safety net of wages and conditions; an order extending an agreement to non-transferring employees should not be made if employees would be disadvantaged compared to the applicable award.

A two-stage approach to determining an application for a new modern award, addressing first the threshold question of whether a new award should be made, then (if approved) the terms and conditions, is procedurally efficient where opposition to the award is evident, to avoid imposing burden on all parties if the threshold is not met.

A modern award covers an employee only if the award is expressed to cover the employee (section 48 Fair Work Act 2009).

The title given to a position does not establish the nature of the work and is not determinative as to whether the position falls within a modern award classification; it is necessary to consider the evidence as to the nature of the work performed.

An employer engaged in property management activities with a dedicated property team may be covered by the Real Estate Industry Award even if its primary business is in another industry such as petroleum distribution, as employers can be covered by multiple modern awards.

The terms 'covers' and 'applies' have separate and distinct meanings in the FW Act: 'covers' indicates the range of employees to whom an instrument potentially applies, while 'applies' concerns whether the instrument operates on an employee at a particular time.

An award-based transitional instrument may cover an employee throughout their employment but may not apply to that employee at any particular time, including when the employee is a high-income employee.

In accordance with cl 4.4 of the Banking Modern Award, an employer supplying labour on an on-hire basis in the industries set out in cl 4.2 is covered by the award in respect of on-hire employees in classifications covered by the award, while engaged in performance of work for a business in those industries.