Visy forced to reinstate sacked staff

The Fair Work Commission has forced Visy to reinstate a pair of staff who were union delegates that were sacked two years ago, and back pay them six months worth of wages.

According to a report in The Australian, FWC upheld the unfair dismissal claim by the two AMWU delegates, who were accused by Visy of organising overtime bans, and sacked two years ago.

The bans were allegedly organised due to employee dissatisfaction with a new zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy at Visy’s Dandenong plant; however, commissioner Michelle Bissett believed employees when they said that the decision to work overtime or not was their own, and was not influenced by the sacked delegates.

“That each saw the working of overtime on a regular basis as a positive in working with Visy does not support an inference that the (delegates) organised the employees not to perform overtime.

“To accept this proposition would require me to accept that each of the employees was not honest in their evidence before the commission and there is no basis for me to make such a finding,” she said.

Visy had opposed the delegates’ reinstatement, claiming a toxic breakdown of relationships, and saying that restoring their jobs would interfere with site operations; however, Bissett ordered their reinstatement, and that their continuity of service be maintained, as well as six months of back pay for each of them.

“The witnesses were credible working people who, beyond the policy, had no gripe with their employer at the time and appear to have none now. For these reasons I am not satisfied that, on the balance of probabilities, I can draw the conclusions by inference sought by Visy,” she said.

Each delegate had worked at Visy for 20 years prior to his sacking.