The Qantas Group has issued an apology to former ground handling employees after the Federal Court’s judgment on compensation in relation to the airline’s controversial outsourcing decision, back in November 2020, during the COVID crisis. The company has committed to fast-tracking the payments and is working with the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) to expedite the process.
Vanessa Hudson, CEO of Qantas Group, expressed regret over the impact on the affected employees: “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.”
Hudson acknowledged both the emotional and financial toll the case has taken on the nearly 1,700 former workers and their families. She emphasised that Qantas hopes this resolution will offer a sense of closure to those affected.
The Federal Court outlined the framework for compensation based on three “test case” employees, with amounts for non-economic loss set at $30,000, $40,000, and $100,000 depending on their specific circumstances. Economic loss compensation will be calculated for eligible employees under the premise that Qantas would have outsourced the ground handling services by the end of 2021 regardless.
The test cases will serve as the foundation for determining individual compensation for each eligible former employee. To expedite the payments, Qantas is seeking assistance from the TWU and has initiated a mediation process.
The company is also conducting an actuarial review to estimate the total compensation liability, while a separate hearing will be scheduled to determine potential penalties. Earlier this year, Qantas had already allocated provisions for estimated compensation and penalties during its Full Year Results in August, prior to the court’s latest ruling.
The Federal Court had previously found that while Qantas had valid commercial reasons for the outsourcing decision, it could not dismiss the possibility that the airline was also motivated by an unlawful desire to prevent employees from engaging in protected industrial action and bargaining for an enterprise agreement.
Further developments regarding penalties and the final compensation amounts will be determined in upcoming court sessions.
