G4S initially claimed that it was under no obligation to pay extra to staff working for this day as all public holidays are included in the rolled up rate/annualised salary.  Following negotiations with CPSU, the company agreed to pay 150% for the day (i.e. extra 50% on rolled up rate).

Background.

CPSU lodged a dispute at Fair Work.

Fair Work can only deal with disputes about the agreement or the National Employment Standard (NES).

At a conciliation hearing on 21 September, G4S advised the Fair Work Commission that

1. 5 public holidays are included in the annualised salary.
2. 10 days extra leave compensates for public holidays worked; and
3. two additional days - Easter Sunday and AFL Grand Final public holiday - have additional payments.

There is no clause in the agreement dealing with additional public holidays but fortunately these are rare and unique situations.

CPSU members will need to deal with this in the next agreement negotiations.

CPSU's review of the agreement and NES concluded that there was no prospect of Fair Work requiring G4S to pay more.

In particular a case taken to the Federal Court by the CFMEU earlier this year in the mining industry about working on Christmas Day and Boxing Day was unsuccessful and set a benchmark in existing case law that was unhelpful to our argument.

Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union v OS MCAP Pty Ltd (No 2) [2022] FCA 132 (22 February 2022)

To be successful if additional public holidays are granted in the future we must now address this with the next Enterprise Bargaining round and ensure we include a clause to cover extra public holidays in our Agreement.

A strong membership working together ensures the best chance for this to be successful.

And remember: CPSU only provides advice and representation to its members and your union fees are tax deductable. 

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