The Fair Work Commission told management to credit staff for leave days it told them to take. It will but also appeal the judgement

The university is appealing a FWC decision in which Deputy President Booth concluded that clauses in the university’s enterprise agreement are contrary to the act and “have no effect,” (CMM November 26).

The case came from a union challenge to university management directing staff to use five days of their leave straight after Easter, as part of its response to COVID-19. The university later decided that the leave requirement could not apply to academic staff but was not for moving on professional staff and (mainly ESL) teachers.

It still, on the principal, isn’t, with Vice Chancellor Alex Zelinsky telling the university community it will appeal Deputy President Booth’s ruling.

However staff will still get their leave back. Professor Zelinsky says, “regardless of the outcome of this appeal, I have endorsed measures to re-credit all staff annual leave balances for the five days’ leave that was deducted due to the Easter closedown.”

So why appeal? Perhaps because if the ruling stands it will probably muck-up the university’s leave budgeting. “The university will not be directing professional and teaching staff to take annual leave between December 21 2020 and January 8 2021. However, we strongly encourage professional and teaching staff to take the break you feel you need over this period,” the vice chancellor told staff Friday.

It could also get expensive if people challenged other cases of compulsory leave under the existing agreement and presumably any previous ones that did not meet Deputy President Booth’s standards.