Jetstar Fined $90 000 For Breach of Fair Work Act
Monday 10 February 2014 @ 10.42 a.m. | Industrial Law
Jetstar has been fined $90,000 after admitting to breaching the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The Fair Work Ombudsman initiated the proceedings after Jetstar sought to require cadet pilots to fund their own training and illegally deduct part of their wages to pay for it.
The Federal Court in Sydney fined Jetstar Group Pty Ltd and Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd $45,000 each for unlawfully appropriating almost $20,000 from the salaries of six cadet pilots. Both had received advice that such deductions were unlawful under Australia's Air Pilots Award 2010,
Hired between October 2010 and January 2011, the pilots were employed on individual contracts through a New Zealand-based Jetstar subsidiary whilst undergoing six months of training.
Justice Buchanan found that at the conclusion of the six months, the pilots’ employment contracts were transferred to Australian entity Jetstar Group which subsequently attempted to recover training costs from the pilots. Jetstar took a total of $17,500 from all six pilots' wages, including one pilot who had refused to agree to the deductions, before returning the money two months later following a legal challenge by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP).
Justice Buchanan remarked specifically on the lack of evidence of contrition or remorse shown by Jetstar over the incident.
"The respondents used their vastly superior bargaining power to effectively brush aside any personal resistance by cadet pilots, not desisting until the AFAP stepped in...The conduct of Jetstar Group and Jetstar Airways was calculated solely by reference to their assessment of their own commercial interests."
The penalty imposed was 68 per cent of the available maximum; appropriate to reflect the Court's disapproval of what had been done, Justice Buchanan added.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has additional ongoing legal proceedings against Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd regarding the employment of cabin crew hired by Singapore company Valuair Limited and Thai company Tour East (TET) Limited.
The airline is disputing claims from the Ombudsman that staff are subject to Australian workplace laws.
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