Coronavirus: Workers dudded by Qantas ‘OT JobKeeper theft’

A Federal Court ruling has found Qantas wrongly used the JobKeeper allowance to cover workers’ overtime payments.

Qantas workers protesting the outsourcing of ground-handling jobs at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Sean Davey

Qantas could be forced to reimburse its workers thousands of dollars after a court found it was misusing the JobKeeper scheme to cover overtime payments.

The Federal Court was told that instead of paying overtime in the fortnight when the employee had worked, Qantas made the payment the following fortnight when the worker was stood down and on JobKeeper.

By doing so, Qantas was able to cover the wages and overtime earned by an employee in a fortnight over a monthly period using the JobKeeper allowance.

The decision could have a significant impact on other companies receiving JobKeeper and paying staff in the same way.

The Federal Court action was brought by the Flight Attendants Association, the Transport Workers Union and Australian Services Union. They alleging Qantas was abusing JobKeeper to the detriment of employees.

While Federal Court judge Geoffrey Flick said there was no suggestion Qantas had an ­“ulterior motive” in making the arrangements, ASU assistant secretary Linda White said it was a clear example of wage theft.

“Qantas has a legal and moral responsibility to pay workers their penalties, but it used tricky legal manoeuvres to dodge that ­responsibility,” Ms White said.

“The idea that whether someone is paid monthly or fortnightly would affect their right to be paid at all is ridiculous and unprincipled by Qantas.”

A Qantas spokesman said the airline was considering whether to appeal the decision.

“Qantas has based all of its ­decisions on JobKeeper on the legislation and guidance provided by the Australian Taxation Office and made sure all employees ­receive a ‘safety net’ payment of $1500 per fortnight,” he said. “That safety net assurance is a central part of the government’s JobKeeper policy.

“Today’s judgment appears to cut across that principle.”

It remains unclear how many Qantas workers may have been affected by the misinterpretation of the JobKeeper scheme.

The airline, during the coronavirus pandemic, has stood down about 25,000 employees and is in the process of making up to 8500 positions redundant.

The figure includes 2420 ground-handling positions that appear set to be outsourced to companies such as Menzies, Swissport and dnata.

Qantas last month posted a $2bn loss for the 2020 financial year, while its most senior executives have deferred pay rises and bonuses.

Chief executive Alan Joyce will continue to receive 65 per cent of his $2.15m base salary, but his overall pay has fallen to $1.7m compared with $9.9m the previous financial year.

Qantas has received about $800m in government subsidies, including the JobKeeper allowance, to continue flying a minimal domestic network, perform freight flights and bring stranded Australians home.

Justice Flick said the JobKeeper law “means what it says” and if his decision meant some employees received a windfall, then “so be it … It remains a matter for the legislature to ‘tweak’ or adjust the scheme if it sees fit.”

TWU nat­ional secretary ­Michael Kaine said the judgment was an important win for workers whose pay had been “raided by senior management”.

“These workers have endured systematic wage theft at the hands of an out-of-control management,” Mr Kaine said. “They have worked overtime, public holidays and weekends and Qantas management has deliberately manipulated JobKeeper so they don’t have to pay workers a dollar more than the public subsidy.”

ACTU national president ­Michele O’Neil said the issue could have been resolved by Qantas months ago. “It should never have been necessary for these workers and their unions to take their employer to court,” she said.