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 apologised for illegally firing 1700 workers during the Covid pandemic after it was ordered to pay nearly $200,000 to three former employees.

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 matter returned to the Federal Court on Monday to determine compensation for the airline’s former workers.

The fight for compensation was launched by the Transport Workers Union, whose members represented 716 of the 1700 illegally fired staff.

Qantas has been ordered to pay $170,000 to three illegally sacked workers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

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.

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.

Justice Michael Lee ruled that three of the fired members of the TWU should receive nearly $200,000 as a test case before full compensation is determined.

The members will receive $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000 each in recognition of the “significant” non-economic loss they’ve suffered as a result of being illegally let go.

Justice Lee ordered the parties to return to court in November to determine the final amount of compensation.

In a statement, Qantas apologised to former ground services 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.”

Ms Hudson said Qantas had sought the assistance of the TWU to find a method of speeding up the compensation process.

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

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said they estimated Qantas could pay a total of $100m in compensation to its former employees.

He said workers deserved to be compensated 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. In reality they were victims of a systematic attempt by Qantas to decimate the pay and conditions of its workforce,” he said.

“It’s astounding that Qantas attempted to argue it should not pay a dollar of compensation to workers it illegally sacked to prevent them accessing workplace rights.

“It was an added kick in the guts after the pain and suffering the airline has caused to these workers and their families.”

Mr Kaine welcomed Justice Lee’s decision as “justice” for the fired workers and their families, and told reporters the union would also be pushing for Qantas to pay a $100m penalty.

More to come