Overview
- The court ordered compensation totaling about A$84,000 to 85 workers, with individual amounts of roughly A$800 to A$2,400, plus A$15,000 payable to the Mining and Energy Union within 28 days.
- In 2019 at the Daunia mine, 85 of 168 Operation Services employees were told they were required to work on Christmas and Boxing Day with no extra pay and no reasonable opportunity to refuse.
- After an initial dismissal in 2022, a Full Court ruling in March 2023 found the conduct contravened the Fair Work Act, setting the stage for this remedy and penalty outcome.
- Justice Darryl Rangiah emphasized that holiday work must be requested rather than commanded, and that employees can reasonably refuse such requests.
- BHP said it will comply with the decision, Operation Services has revised procedures to allow refusals, and the case concludes as Daunia now operates under Whitehaven following BHP’s 2024 sale.