ARTICLE · 20 JANUARY 2021

Update to the Qantas JobKeeper Case

People + Culture Strategies

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Qantas successfully appealed the decision, and the unions are now seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court.

AustraliaEmployment and HR

Rohan Burn

In October 2020, we discussed the "Qantas JobKeeper Case" and noted that Qantas was considering whether to appeal the decision. Qantas successfully appealed the decision in December, and now the Unions are seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia (the "HCA").

1. Legislative background

To recap the legislative background of the matter, the Qantas JobKeeper Case concerns the interpretation of one of the temporary provisions introduced into the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the "FW Act") as part of the JobKeeper Scheme. Specifically, section 789GDA of the FW Act provides a minimum payment guarantee by which an employer must ensure that "(i)f a JobKeeper payment is payable to an employer for an employee for a fortnight", the total amount payable to the employee in respect of the fortnight is the greater of the JobKeeper payment amount ($1,500 initially and then subsequently reduced) or "the amounts payable to the employee in relation to the

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