A group of cleaners has won redundancy payments from their old boss after the industrial umpire agreed the company failed to take steps to secure them new work when it lost a contract.
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The Fair Work Commission has found Asset Industries Australia owed the cleaners, working at Australian Public Service offices in Canberra's city centre, after their new employer put them on six months' probation and employed them on 7 per cent less in wages.
The union for the cleaners, United Voice, told the umpire Asset Industries should have paid redundancy entitlements because Prompcorp, the new contractor cleaning the offices, employed the staff on probation and less pay.
Prompcorp paid the cleaners a base rate of $22.39 per hour, down from $24.06 per hour under their old employer.
Under the cleaners' workplace deal with Asset Industries, the company owed them redundancy entitlements unless it found staff jobs without probation periods and involving similar pay, hours and tasks with the incoming contractor, the union said.
Asset Industries denied it failed to obtain new work for the cleaners, and said it was not required under law to ensure employees found alternative jobs with another employer.
The company said the cleaners would not have gained new employment if it had not met with and handed over documents to Prompcorp.
Asset Industries said it informed Prompcorp of employees’ contact details, experience and years of service, and provided the documents in the hope that the cleaners would get jobs with the company.
The arguments failed to move Fair Work commissioner Chris Simpson, who on December 12 agreed with the union that Prompcorp's decision to pay the cleaners less and put them on probation entitled them to redundancy payments under their workplace deal.
Asset Industries' actions after losing the cleaning contract "at their highest amount to something less than having obtained the offers of employment", Commissioner Simpson said.
The cleaners, working at offices in Mort Street and Marcus Clarke Street, received their redundancy payments early last week and said it was a relief.
Cleaner and union delegate Karma Dema said it had been hard to fight for the payments, and the money would make a difference as the cleaners worked on lower wages.
Nine of the 16 cleaners who worked for Asset Industries, and were union members, gained work at Prompcorp. Asset Industries agreed it owed redundancy payments to the seven who didn't receive jobs with the new contractor, but said the entitlement didn't apply to those who found work.
