Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union v Dick Stone Pty Ltd [2022] FCA 512

Federal Court of Australia

Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union v Dick Stone Pty Ltd [2022] FCA 512 File number: NSD 1099 of 2019

Judgment of: KATZMANN J

Date of judgment: 6 May 2022

Catchwords: INDUSTRIAL LAW — where company conducts business as a meat wholesaler but also engages in meat processing, whether premises it occupies are a "meat processing establishment" or a "meat retail establishment" within the meaning of those terms in the Meat Industry Award 2010 — where employee hired as a knife hand/labourer but where no such occupation mentioned in Award, what was his correct classification under the Award — where employee engaged to work 50 "ordinary hours" a week and pay slips only referred to overtime for working more than 50 hours, whether employer contravened National Employment Standards by not complying with obligations under Award to pay overtime rates for work outside the ordinary spread of hours or in excess of 38 hours a week — where employer paid a "blended rate" incorporating overtime rates for hours outside the ordinary spread prescribed by the Award but did not inform employee until nearly three years into his employment, whether employer entitled to set off payments of wages over Award amounts against any failure to pay overtime rates under Award — whether additional hours were "unreasonable" within the meaning of s 62 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) — whether employer contravened s 125 of the Act by failing to give employee a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement before, or as soon as reasonably practicable, after commencing employment — where Award and NES accessible on employer's computers and employee's mobile phone, whether employer in breach of the Award by failing to make Award and NES available to employee — whether employer failed to post rosters — whether employer underpaid employee superannuation