Employer in hot water for reducing shift from 38 to 9 hours per week
The Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission has awarded compensation to a worker who had his work hours reduced.
The Commission said the employer’s decision was a breach of the employment contract in a way that the worker can consider that his employment was unjustly terminated.
Background of the case
The worker was employed by the Nullagine Community Resource Centre Association (NCRC) as its assistant coordinator. He was hired on a full-time basis, with 38 hours per week.
On 23 February 2021, the worker was advised that his hours would be reduced from 38 to nine hours per week. So, after a few months, he gave his resignwation letter to the employer’s Chairperson, stating that the latter and other committee members’ actions had caused “an extremely stressful working environment.”
The worker said that he was “the target of an orchestrated and sustained conduct of harassment,” which was planned to “force him to resign.” He narrated several incidents that involved the employer’s senior staff.
One incident involved the Chairperson blocking the worker from leaving the room with his arm at the office. It was then that the Chairperson informed him that his job description had changed, and his working hours were reduced.
“When he arrived at the NCRC office, [senior management] was there along with four other persons that he did not know. The [chairperson] raised the reduction in hours with him and asked him which of the three working days he would work. The worker replied that the hours did not comply with the contract,” the records said.
During another incident, the worker said the secretary called him “useless” and “stupid.” He also said that when the Chairperson read the worker’s resignation letter, the former said, “best of luck.”
According to the Commission, the worker’s allegations were corroborated by evidence from his supervisor. Meanwhile, the employer argued that he had voluntarily resigned.
In a previous HRD report, a worker argued that he was dismissed from employment because the company gave him a lesser workload, causing him “financial difficulty.”
The Commission’s decision
The Commission found the employer unilaterally changed the worker’s employment contract terms, reducing his working hours from 38 to nine hours per week.
It said that this change breached the terms of his contract, and that the worker was entitled to consider that his employment was terminated because of the employer’s decision.
“[He] is entitled to consider his employment had been terminated because of the conduct and actions of his employer. [His] termination was unfair,” the Commission said.
Lastly, the Commission said that it was not practical to reinstate the applicant, and instead awarded compensation for the loss of income he would have otherwise earned had his employment continued up to the date of the hearing.
The Commission awarded the applicant $27,098.46, being the maximum amount available under WA’s Industrial Relations Act 1979.
