Australia’s biggest business organisation says employers will be on notice over how they move to outsource work, after a landmark High Court ruling that Qantas illegally sacked 1700 staff during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is specifically stated in the case that Qantas has sound commercial reasons for their decision to outsource. However, the High Court has decided that the manner in which they outsourced their operations was not in keeping with the general protections regime,” he said. The win is expected to embolden the federal government’s attempts to change Australia’s industrial relations laws which were already drawing opposition from corporate Australia.
Amanda Lacaze, the chief executive of rare earths group Lynas, also expressed concern if these laws were extended to the mining industry.