Yahoo Finance ‘Bitterly disappointing’: Qantas refuses to pay sick leave to employee with cancer
Australia’s largest airline Qantas (QAN.AX) will not be required to pay staff sick leave after the workers’ union lost a court battle on Monday.
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The Federal Court has ruled Qantas is not required to pay staff, including a man with cancer, sick leave while they are stood down. The case was brought by a group of workers including a man battling cancer.
“The ruling is bitterly disappointing for Qantas workers battling serious illnesses and their families, who are enduring worries about their finances at a difficult time in their lives. We are looking to appeal this judgment and seek redress for these workers,” Transport Workers Union (TWU) national secretary Michael Kaine said.
“This is about justice and the fact that workers who are battling serious illnesses should be allowed to draw down the significant sick leave they have accrued through years of hard work at Qantas,” he continued.
Qantas stood down around 20,000 employees in March after the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of its international routes and the majority of its domestic routes.
And in correspondence with staff, Qantas said sick and carer’s leave would not be paid out during any period of the stand down.
Workers affected include a man awaiting a triple bypass and a man battling cancer, both who have worked for the company for more than 30 years.
The TWU is now looking to appeal the Federal Court’s ruling.
“Qantas is taking harsh management decisions that are heaping concerns on already anxious, ill workers,” Keane said.
“The airline’s heartless move on sick leave mirrors other actions since the pandemic crisis began, including ignoring workers concerns about the virus, threatening with sacking workers who raise concerns, refusing to implement appropriate systems to prevent virus clusters and arbitrary implementation of the stand-downs.”
‘Absolutely shameful’
The Qantas Engineers Alliance Unions and the Australian Workers’ Union also blasted the judgement.
Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Dan Walton described it as an “absolutely shameful” example of “corporate greed” being prioritised over worker welfare.
“One worker who made a submission to the court has heart failure and cannot access sick leave, another can't use his carers leave to look after his wife who had a stroke and their six-month-old baby. Just imagine the stress they are under,” Walton said.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union national assistant secretary Glenn Thompson also noted that Justice Flick’s decision doesn’t preclude Qantas from choosing to pay the leave.
The decision was largely due to stand down provisions being in place to protect employers’ finances, and paying out sick leave offsets that to some degree. Additionally, sick and carer’s leave is designed to protect employees pay, but when workers are stood down, they don’t have an income to protect and as such sick leave isn’t required.
“This decision doesn’t prohibit Qantas from choosing to allow their workers to access their personal leave. We are calling on Qantas to rethink their cruel approach and allow workers to access their personal leave immediately”, Thompson said.
Australia’s airlines were granted a $715 million relief package in March.
“It is deeply disappointing that a company that has received millions of dollars of bailouts from taxpayers chose to spend that money fighting to deny workers their sick leave,” Thompson said.
‘There is no work to be absent from’: Qantas responds
In a statement, a Qantas spokesperson said “unfortunately” the majority of its employees are not receiving their regular income.
“The Court has confirmed that employees who are stood down are not eligible to receive paid sick leave because there is no work to be absent from,” the spokesperson said.
“Employees can still access annual leave, long service leave and other support including the government’s JobKeeper payments.”
Employee sick and carer’s leave will continue to accrue and can be used when workers resume work.
Qantas’ billion-dollar profit
Qantas posted an underlying profit before tax of $1.30 billion last year, and its CEO, Alan Joyce is also regarded as Australia’s highest-paid CEO, taking home $23.9 million in 2018.
Earlier this month Joyce said Qantas is in a strong position to ride out the crisis and has enough power to remain in business without flying until December 2021.
“There’s a reason why Qantas is the longest continuous operating airline in the world. It’s very competitive and it has the DNA to adapt to the market and the environment.”
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