Qantas to pay hefty $200,000 fee to three illegal sacked workers

Qantas has been ordered to pay an eye-watering amount to compensate three of the 1700 workers who were illegally fired during the Covid pandemic.

Qantas has been ordered to pay $170,000 to three of the 1700 workers who were illegally fired during the pandemic amid a push for the airline to fork out more than $100m in compensation.

The Federal Court ruled in 2021 that the embattled airline had acted unlawfully when it sacked the ground services employees in 2020 and outsourced their roles to contractors at a cheaper rate.

Qantas’ attempts to overturn the guilty verdict were unsuccessful, and the Transport Workers Union launched a fight for compensation for affected former employees.

The union argued Qantas should have to pay “many millions of dollars” after being found guilty of the largest case of illegal sackings in Australia’s corporate history.

TWU gathered outside court after Qantas was ordered to pay $170,000 in compensation. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Yet Qantas contended the payout should be mitigated because the employees would have lawfully lost their jobs the next year anyway due to the crippling impact of Covid on the travel industry.

On Monday, Justice Michael Lee ordered the airline to pay $170,000 to three former employees who were used as test cases during the compensation hearing earlier this year.

The workers will receive $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000 respectively in recognition of the harm they suffered as a result of being illegally let go.

In his judgment, Justice Lee noted that Qantas’ illegal conduct had triggered the third test case worker to develop “a major psychiatric illness” which continues to affect his life.

In a statement issued after the decision, Qantas apologised to the illegally fired workers and said it would work to expedite the payments.

“We sincerely apologise to our former employees who were impacted by this decision and we know that the onus is on Qantas to learn from this,” Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said.

“We recognise the emotional and financial impact this has had on these people and their families. We hope that this provides closure to those who have been affected.”

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson has apologised to workers who were illegally fired. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Ms Hudson said Qantas would work with the TWU to find a method of speeding up the compensation process.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine estimated Qantas could pay more than $100m in compensation to its former employees.

He said workers deserved to be reimbursed for the “hell Qantas put them through” during four years of court proceedings.

“The TWU took on Australia’s biggest corporate bully at a time workers were told they were just a casualty of the pandemic,” Mr Kaine said.

“In reality they were victims of a systematic attempt by Qantas to decimate the pay and conditions of its workforce.”

Illegally sacked Qantas ground service worker Don Dixon said it had been a “horrible thing” to lose his job “as quickly and as brutally” as he did.

“We thought we were there for the rest of our lives. Most of us are getting on in years, so getting another job out in the harsh world was very, very difficult,” he said.

“This compensation will go a long way to paying people’s mortgages and giving them some hope that all isn’t lost when you group together and you have that fight.”

TWU Assistant National Secretary Nick McIntosh said the court decision was a “victory”. Picture: NewsWire

TWU Assistant National Secretary Nick McIntosh said it was a day of justice for the 1700 workers who “did nothing wrong” and “fought a mammoth effort to hold Alan Joyce and Qantas to account” over four years.

“The Federal Court has today sent a powerful message to corporate Australia that if you engage in this sort of behaviour, you will be held to account. You will be ordered to compensate people … for the hardship, for the distress, for the suffering that you have caused,” he said.

“It is a victory for every working person in this country.”

The TWU will also push for penalties of up to $100m against the airline.

Justice Lee urged the parties to resolve any disputes before the matter returns to the Federal Court in November for mediation to determine the final compensation figure.

“Apart from any public benefit, finality would help bring a degree of closure to those affected workers who have been wronged, particularly for those who experienced emotional and financial stress,” he said.