Compensation for sacked Qantas workers delayed by months

Witness evidence in the compensation case against Qantas has concluded but the 1,700 illegally outsourced workers will have to wait months before the case can properly conclude. The Federal Court heard the last of the witness evidence on Friday (22 March) but lingering questions about the “counterfactual world”, in which the sackings never occurred, has pushed the timeline back. Justice Michael Lee ordered counsel for Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Qantas prepare closing submissions ahead of May. The closing submissions will now consider how likely the counterfactual world would be and respond to statistics about salary. Qantas was found guilty of illegally outsourcing the ground handling staff in November 2020 by the Federal Court. An appeal in the High Court upheld this decision. In the current compensation hearings, Qantas submitted they should only have to compensate employees for up to 12 months because the outsourcing would have occurred legally around March 2021. Colin Hughes, then-executive manager of Qantas airports, said the outsourcing was always going to occur because it would have been in the company’s best commercial interests. “I can’t think of any Qantas manager who would not have recommended consideration of that proposal,” Hughes said. “It is hard to think why that wouldn’t have been the case.” Hughes outlined a meeting with Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) to determine the legal risks of the outsourcing decision.<br/>