Sick leave saga over as Michael Lawler quits from Fair Work

Besieged Fair Work vice-president Michael Lawler has resigned from his $435,000-a-year position.

Michael Lawler has resigned from his position as Fair Work Commission vice-president.

Besieged Fair Work vice-president Michael Lawler has resigned from his $435,000-a-year position in an unprecedented finale to more than a year of controversy over his extended paid sick leave.

One of Australia’s most senior members of the quasi-judicial ­industrial tribunal, with all the status and perks of a Federal Court judge, Mr Lawler has taken almost a year of sick leave while regularly assisting his partner, disgraced unionist Kathy Jackson, to fight allegations of theft.

Under the statute, Mr Lawler, 55, is not entitled to a pension ­because he has resigned before reaching the age of 60. Therefore the matter of any pension will fall under the remit of Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.

Should Mr Lawler be able to press the government into paying his statutory pension, he would be resigning with a windfall of 60 per cent of a Federal Court judge’s ­salary, close to $250,000 a year ­indexed for life.

Mr Lawler’s resignation comes at the end of a tumultuous week that has included him providing surety for a former soldier on charges of threatening a woman, and the death of another man at the home Mr Lawler shares with Ms Jackson, who last year was found to have rorted $1.4 million in union funds and still faces a criminal investigation.

The Australian revealed Mr Lawler’s extensive sick leave in a string of exposes from last June. This followed a months-long ­investigation of his absences from work. During this time he had at one point appeared in the Federal Court on behalf of Ms Jackson.

Mr Lawler tendered his resignation to Governor-General Peter Cosgrove yesterday, 24 hours ­before a deadline set by Employment Minister Michaelia Cash for his response to a major inquiry into his behaviour prompted by The Australian’s revelations.

Mr Lawler’s decision to quit also comes before a federal government decision on whether to push for his removal through a parliamentary vote.

Mr Lawler was recently sent a copy of the independent report into his activities and his conduct. By resigning immediately, he has headed off the release of the ­report to parliament.

Senator Cash announced on October 11 that she would appoint an independent investigator to ­report on the circumstances of Mr Lawler’s extensive sick leave, and into a complaint about Mr Law­ler’s conduct during an industrial conference, revealed by The Australian on June 20.

The inquiry was also asked to advise whether there were grounds whereby he should be ­removed from office by a vote of both houses of parliament.

Mr Lawler has since added to his controversy by announcing to the ABC that he taped conversations with colleagues. He is ­believed to have also covertly taped conversations with some journalists.

Senator Cash appointed barrister and former judge Peter Heerey QC to conduct the ­inquiry. She received his report two weeks ago and had sent it to Mr Lawler for his response with a deadline of today.

Senator Cash said yesterday that Mr Lawler’s resignation was effective immediately. The Fair Work Commission is understood to have received news of the ­departure of the vice-­president from Senator Cash’s ­office.

Mr Lawler’s departure was ­welcomed by opposition workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor, who demanded the government immediately ­release the Heerey report.  

“Given the gravity of this matter, it is in the public interest that the content of this review, including all findings of Mr Heerey be disclosed,” Mr O’Connor said.

Former employment minister Eric Abetz told The Australian that Mr Lawler should have stepped down earlier, adding it was a “welcome decision that just comes a few years too late”.  

Mr Lawler’s generous pension entitlements on reaching the age of 60 would have been equivalent to those of a Federal Court judge, and only available to a handful of commission members whose ­appointment predates the update of the Fair Work Act in 2009.

Mr Lawler was appointed to the commission in 2002 by then workplace relations minister Tony ­Abbott.

The terms and conditions of his employment were grandfathered in the 2009 Act. Such largesse was abolished for new members ­appointed after 2009.

Should Mr Lawler achieve his pension from the government, Ms Jackson in turn stands potentially to become a significant beneficiary upon his death.

Under the terms of Mr Lawler’s employment, Ms Jackson would, in such circumstances, receive a pension of 62 per cent of his pension — or $150,000, indexed for life.

Mr Lawler’s children, or any children recognised under family law, which could include Ms Jackson’s children, would also become beneficiaries.

In an affidavit signed on June 24, Mr Lawler blamed ­colleagues at Fair Work for his having to check into a mental health centre for a “short period”, and for his taking extended sick leave.

His accusations inflamed relations with commission members, some of whom felt that the Jackson saga, and Mr Lawler’s public role at her side — or on her behalf — had darkened the commission’s independence.

Mr Lawler appeared in good shape and alert to the nuance of the law when he interceded on Ms Jackson’s behalf before judge Richard Tracey in the Federal Court on June 20, 2014.

He appeared comfortable with the media attention posing for cameras with Ms Jackson outside the Trade Union Royal Commission and the Federal Court.