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Qantas apologizes to former employees after court ruling

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The Qantas Group has apologised to former ground handling employees following a Federal Court ruling on compensation related to the controversial outsourcing decision during the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020. The company has committed to expediting payments and is working with the Transport Workers' Union (TWU) to speed up the process.

CEO Vanessa Hudson expressed regret for the impact the decision had on affected employees, saying: "We sincerely apologise to our former employees who were impacted by this decision and know it is up to Qantas to learn from it." She acknowledged the emotional and financial burdens suffered by the nearly 1.700 former employees and their families. Hudson hopes this resolution can provide a sense of closure for those affected.

The Federal Court set a framework for compensation based on three "test cases". The amounts for non-economic loss were set at $30.000, $40.000 and $100.000, depending on the employees' specific circumstances. Economic loss compensation is calculated for eligible employees based on the assumption that Qantas would have outsourced ground handling services by the end of 2021 anyway.

The test cases will serve as the basis for individual compensation to each eligible former employee. To expedite payments, Qantas is seeking assistance from the TWU and has commenced a mediation process. The company is also conducting an actuarial review to estimate the total compensation liability. A separate process will be set up to determine potential penalties. Already this year, Qantas had made provisions for the estimated compensation and penalties as part of its full-year results in August.

The Federal Court had previously found that while Qantas had valid commercial reasons for the outsourcing decision, it also could not rule out that the airline may have been motivated by an unlawful desire to prevent employees from engaging in protected industrial action and negotiating an enterprise agreement. Further developments regarding penalties and final compensation amounts will be decided in future court sessions.

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