The Federal Court in its decision in Communications,
Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and
Allied Services Union of Australia v Qantas Airways Limited
[2020] FCA 656, handed down on 18 May 2020, has ruled definitively
that employees are not entitled to be paid personal/carer's
leave (ss.96 and 97 of the Act) or compassionate leave (s.105)
during any time they are stood down pursuant to section 524 of the
Fair Work Act (Act). Justice Flick
considered two union applications which claimed that Qantas was
obliged to continue to provide access to paid personal and
carer's leave for employees who had been stood down due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Justice Flick considered that the heart of the proceeding was
the intersection of the object and purpose of an ability to stand
down employees and the entitlement of those employees to access
personal/carer's leave or compassionate leave.
