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Discuss the legal issues in the following article: Coles worker wins penalty rates fight

A PART-TIME Coles worker has won a David and Goliath industrial fight with the supermarket giant over wages and conditions.

Petrina Berry 

Duncan Hart is a part-time Coles employee who appealed against a workplace deal that his union struck with Coles saying it underpaid casual and part-time workers. 

A PART-TIME Coles worker has won an industrial fight with the supermarket giant over a wages and conditions agreement covering thousands of employees.

Duncan Hart, a student who works for Coles supermarket in Brisbane, took action in the Fair Work Commission last year against the retailer's enterprise bargaining agreement struck with the shop assistant's union, the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA).

The Fair Work Commission has ruled in favour of Mr Hart, releasing a judgment on Tuesday that says the agreement failed the better off overall test (BOOT).

"For some employees, particularly those who work primarily at times which attract lower penalty rates under the agreement when compared to the award, the loss in monetary terms is potentially significant," the commission said in its ruling.

"The potential loss is likely to be of significance for part-time and casual employees. It follows that we are not satisfied that the agreement passes the BOOT."

Coles has been given 10 days to fix the agreement which could include changing rosters or renegotiating pay and conditions. The retailer defended its track record with a spokesman saying Coles' workplace agreements have consistently delivered wage rises ahead of inflation in the past 12 years.

The spokesman said the agreement was originally approved by the Fair Work Commission in 2015 and it delivered an average increase of three per cent in base rates and maintained penalty rates from the previous agreement.

He said Coles was yet to decide on what course to take following Tuesday's decision.