Qantas struck with a record fine for illegal layoffs during the pandemic

An Australian court has sentenced to a fine of the Qantas airline giant, a record of $ 90 million (43 million pounds sterling; $ 59 million) for illegally dismissal more than 1,800 grounds on the ground During the cocovio-9 pandemic.

The Union of Transport Workers in Australia has said that it had welcomed the sanction, which is the most important imposed by a court for violations of the laws on the professional relations of the history of the country.

The judge of the Federal Court, Michael Lee, said in the judgment he wanted the amendment to act as a “real deterrence” for other employers.

The airline said in a statement that she had agreed to pay the fine and that the decision held it responsible for the shares that caused “prejudices” to its employees.

“We sincerely apologize to each of the 1,820 field management employees and their families who have suffered,” said Vanessa Hudson, director general of the Qantas group.

“The decision to outsource five years ago, in particular for such an uncertain period, caused real difficulties to many of our old team and their families.”

The fine is the largest financial penalty issued to an Australian company under the Fair Work Act, which establishes rules for workers and employees.

The largest airline in Australia faced a legal battle for several years about its decision in 2020 to outsource its staff operations staff, which, according to it, was a necessary financial measure as the aviation industry stopped during the pandemic.

The court ordered qantas to pay $ 50 million in penalty directly to the Transport Workers Union, which had continued the airline during the layoffs.

The decision marked the “end of a five -year battle by David and Goliath” and is a “moment of justice for the faithful workers who loved their jobs in the airline,” the transport union said in a statement.

The fine is close to the maximum penalty which can be imposed to violate Australian laws in the workplace.

Judge Lee said the fine aims to discourage other large companies from thinking that they can “run away” with such movements, even if they think that the benefits could be worth the risk of being caught.

In court documents, judge Lee Questioned the business culture of Qantas And if the company’s remorse was authentic.

He noted the “relentless and aggressive” legal strategy of the company as a sign of efforts to avoid paying any compensation to the workers for whom he had previously said that it was sorry.

In 2021, the court concluded that Qantas had partly outsourced its workforce to limit workers to take industrial measures. Many workers were members of the union.

Qantas’ penalty is in addition to an indemnity of $ 120 million that the airline had agreed to pay to dismiss workers in 2024, after losing several calls before the courts.

But it may not be big enough to dissuade other companies from doing the same as the airline may have saved even more money by outsourcing its staff during the pandemic, said Dan Trindade, an employment expert from the Clayton Utz legal firm.

“If this is not considered sufficient deterrence, the government can face calls to increase sanctions.”

Illegal layoffs were one of several scandals involving the airline in recent years. Last year, Qantas was ordered to pay $ 100 million to sell tickets over thousands of flights he had already decided to cancel.