Australian Services Union says Adelaide City Council workers were wrongly sent home in coronavirus pandemic
The Australian Services Union is threatening to pursue Adelaide City Council through the Employment Tribunal after it sent workers home for a month amid the coronavirus crisis and forced them to take annual leave.
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Adelaide City Council breached employment laws when it sent workers home for a month last week amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Australian Services Union has claimed.
It has also said staff should not be “forced” to take their own annual leave and that chief executive Mark Goldstone must justify which workers must take time off.
The union has threatened to launch a dispute through the Employment Tribunal if the council doesn’t scrap its plan and consider alternatives.
About 400 workers at the council’s Town Hall were sent home for a month last week.
They were gifted two weeks leave but told they would have to use their own annual leave for the second fortnight.
Only “essential” staff are still on the job.
In an email to council staff, ASU SA and NT branch organiser Ella Waters said the decision to stand down workers was made solely by management, without any circumstances that forced them to do so.
According to the email, that is “not a legitimate use” of the stand down provisions in the South Australian Fair Work Act.
It said the move was “contrary to advice from both the state local government minister and the Federal Government”.
The union has called on Mr Goldstone to “urgently” identify which staff will not be required after the first two weeks and justify their mandated absence.
“If an employee genuinely wants to be on leave, we understand,” the email read.
“However, the ASU does not believe this should be a managerial direction at this time.
“It should be your genuine choice to take leave only if you would prefer.”
Outdoor workers have been put on a two-week-on, two-week-off deal for the next month with gifted leave.
Mr Goldstone said he was standing by the decision to send staff home for a month because he would otherwise “have significantly increased the risk of infection which puts both my staff and our community at increased risk”.
He said his obligations under work health and safety were “clear”.
“I don’t believe my decision is either unreasonable in these extraordinary circumstances nor unlawful,” Mr Goldstone said.
“We are, however, open to exploring all reasonable viable alternatives and have invited our unions to share their suggestions with us.”
Local Government Minister Stephan Knoll last week said he would consider legal options to keep council workers on the job in light of Adelaide City Council sending people home.