The Federal Court (Court) has issued a penalty to an employer for failing to ‘request’ its employees to work on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The recent decision of Mining and Energy Union v OS MCAP Pty Ltd (No 3) [2025] FCA 1372 (the Decision) highlights the importance of compliance during the holiday period and warns employers not to rely on contract provisions and fixed roster arrangements which assume public holiday work. The employees were awarded compensation for the loss of opportunity to refuse work.
Authors:
Shane Entriken (sentriken@piperalderman.com.au – Partner),
Andrew Jonklaas (ajonklaas@piperalderman.com.au – Senior Associate),
Lauren Chadwick (lchadwick@piperalderman.com.au – Senior Associate),
Danielle Lisbon (dlisbon@piperalderman.com.au – Associate),
Matthew Sankey (msankey@piperalderman.com.au – Associate),
Penelope Dwyer (pgdwyer@piperalderman.com.au – Lawyer)