Qantas CEO apologises to former employees as airline receives $90m fine
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More news: Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson has confirmed the group will pay the $90 million penalty ordered by the Federal Court this morning, and apologised on behalf of the airline to the 1,820 Qantas employees who lost their jobs following its decision to unlawfully outsource its ground handling function in 2020.
Qantas shares were down 0.2% to $11.61 at 12:35pm AEST, having advanced 90% over the last 12 months.
What they said: "The decision to outsource five years ago, particularly during such an uncertain time, caused genuine hardship for many of our former team and their families," Hudson said in an ASX release.
"The impact was felt not only by those who lost their jobs, but by our entire workforce.
"Over the past 18 months we've worked hard to change the way we operate as part of our efforts to rebuild trust with our people and our customers. This remains our highest priority as we work to earn back the trust we lost."
Qantas fined $90m for illegally outsourcing ground handling workforce
The news: The Federal Court has fined Qantas $90 million over its decision to illegally outsource 1,800 ground handling jobs during the Covid pandemic.
The numbers: Justice Michael Lee said on Monday that the penalty should be "no less than $90 million" and have "some reasonable relationship" with the maximum fine of $121 million.
He also said that $50 million of the penalty should be paid to the Transport Workers Union (TWU).
Qantas shares were down 0.22% to $11.61 at 11:10am AEST.
The context: The court order follows a 2020 decision by Qantas to outsource its ground handling workforce, which the Federal Court later found to be illegal.
The airline's decision meant the vast majority of its ground handlers were sacked.
The TWU consequently challenged the outsourcing decision and called for the airline to be fined a maximum of $121 million, in addition to the $120 million in compensation it is required to pay the affected employees.
The sources: Federal Court judgement, ASX
