Benjamin Millar
The Fair Work Commission has knocked back Hobsons Bay council’s bid to avoid redundancy payouts entitlements to five Home Support workers who did not wish to transfer their employment to a private provider.
The council reviewed its role in the provision of in-home support services to older residents and residents with a disability in 2019, appointing not-for-profit provider Uniting AgeWell to provide services on council’s behalf.
Council employees were offered the same terms and conditions to transfer, but five workers sought to take a redundancy instead.
The council applied to the commission to resolve alleged ambiguity in the staff’s employment agreement, however the commission found the employees were entitled to redundancy pay even when they elected not to transfer their employment.
Australian Services Union Branch Secretary Lisa Darmanin said the decision is clear.
“The ASU is calling on the council to stop wasting ratepayers’ money trying to avoid paying these entitlements and do the right thing by these workers,” she said.
“These Home Support workers gave many years of loyal service to the council and the least the council can do for them is pay their redundancy entitlements.”
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers principal lawyer Daniel Victory, who represented the ASU, said the decision is another example of how employees need to be vigilant in protecting their entitlements.
“Increasingly, we are seeing employers who are seeking to vary or terminate workplace agreements to the detriment of employees,” he said.
Hobsons Bay council chief executive Aaron van Egmond said throughout the process of transferring services to an external provider, the council remained committed to staff remaining employed and continuity of care and service.
“Transfer of business is not a common occurrence for councils and Hobsons Bay City Council recently sought independent advice from the Fair Work Commission as it genuinely believed there was ambiguity within the 2016-19 agreement,” he said.
“Council respects the decision of the Fair Work Commission and will continue to work with all parties to come to a resolution as soon as possible.”
The ASU is pursuing pay claims for the five employees in the Federal Court of Australia.
