Fair Work Commission concerns on Michael Lawler leave

Almost eight months of sick leave taken by Fair Work Commission vice-president Michael Lawler has forced a top-level meeting.

Concerns about almost eight months of unexplained sick leave taken in the past year by one of the most senior members of the Fair Work Commission, vice-president Michael Lawler, have spilled over to his colleagues, prompting a meeting of the ­organisation’s top-ranking panel leaders to discuss the issue.

The meeting of all panel heads was held in the past two weeks and included Fair Work president Iain Ross, vice-presidents Joe Catanzariti and Graeme Watson, and senior deputy presidents Alan Boulton, Ian Watson and Anne Harrison.

It is understood the meeting discussed the challenges for the FWC in grappling with the ­almost six months of sick leave taken between June and December last year by Mr Lawler and sick leave this year since April. His current leave certificates run through until late July or August.

A range of options on how to manage Mr Lawler’s return and potential resumption of work was discussed at the meeting but it is understood no conclusions were reached.

Justice Ross is overseas and his office yesterday declined to comment.

The long periods of sick leave Mr Lawler has taken in the past 12 months have overlapped with the significant court actions faced by his partner, former Health Services Union national secretary Kathy Jackson, over allegations of misappropriation of $1.4 million in union funds.

Due to the conditions of Mr Lawler’s employment, there is no capacity for the FWC, the ­national body that sets award pay rates and conditions and helps resolve workplace disputes, to curtail Mr Lawler’s sick leave.

He was appointed in 2002 by Tony Abbott, then workplace ­relations minister in the Howard government, under the terms and conditions of the then Workplace Relations Act.

He has the status of a Federal Court judge but a slightly higher salary — set at 103 per cent of a judge’s salary. In Mr Lawler’s case this is $435,000.

When the Rudd government replaced the Workplace Relations Act with the Fair Work Act in 2009, a series of transitional provisions made it clear that members of the commission already appointed under the previous act would hold office under the new Fair Work Act, but with the same terms and conditions they enjoyed at the time of their original appointment. These transitional provisions preserved the benefits governing elite members of the commission.

It has left the FWC with a conundrum: a senior member of the organisation able to take massive quantities of sick leave but without revealing any details of his illness, and without documented policies to curtail or deny this leave.

There is no provision to limit or refuse sick leave for FWC officials such as Mr Lawler appointed under the previous Workplace Relations Act. He can only be disciplined — or indeed terminated for misbehaviour or incapacity — by parliament.

Mr Lawler has had a high public profile in recent years, becoming embroiled in HSU matters, including past allegations that he involved himself against foes of Ms Jackson by referring claims to the police after an internal union factional struggle and revelations he appeared in the Federal Court on behalf of Ms Jackson on June 20 last year in a case against the HSU.

These have raised questions of ethical propriety and perceptions of a conflict of interest. In addition it was revealed in the Federal Court this week that Mr Lawler had been assisting Ms Jackson with her legal fees against the HSU, and had participated in her attempt to transfer ownership of their home to him ahead of a move by the HSU to freeze her assets.

Justice Ross refused to answer questions last week as to whether he had given Mr Lawler permission to represent Ms Jackson before the Federal Court last year and whether Mr Lawler’s appearance in court on behalf of Ms Jackson affected the independence of the FWC.

On Monday this week, Mr Lawler accompanied Ms Jackson to the Federal Court for an interlocutory hearing while still on sick leave.

In court he provided a stream of written notes to her barrister, approaching the bar table 10 times.

Mr Lawler and Ms Jackson recently moved into a large home on Sydney’s south coast adjacent to their own home, which sustained fire damage earlier this year. Despite Ms Jackson’s claims the fire was a result of arson, NSW police say there were no suspicious circumstances and they have investigated and closed the case.

The sprawling, secluded home at the base of a rainforest, which the couple now rents, was purchased by Mr Lawler last year during a short period when he acted for an ageing barrister, David Rofe, who was suffering from dementia. Mr Rofe and Mr Lawler knew each other from younger days.