Pryde v Warramunda Village [2000] FCA 1374

Pryde v Warramunda Village [2000] FCA 1374

The applicants' sleepover shifts constituted work because they were required to remain on the respondent's premises, in a supervisory capacity and on immediate stand-by to assist the stand-up shift worker at very short notice. There was no evidence of a separate contractual arrangement taking the sleepover shifts outside the awards. In the absence of a specific award provision for sleepover shifts, employees performing that work were entitled to be paid for the shift as time worked under the relevant awards. The on-call provisions did not apply because the applicants were on duty, not off duty or at home. The respondent therefore breached the 1993 Award and the 1995 Award by failing to...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
15 September 2000
Procedural Posture
Application for Penalties for Alleged Breaches of Industrial Awards / Liability Determined; Underpayments and Penalty Left for Later Hearing and Matter Adjourned to Directions Hearing
Outcome
Declarations made that the respondent breached the 1993 Award and the 1995 Award in relation to sleepover duties; breaches declared part of a single course of conduct; application otherwise adjourned to a directions hearing.
Legal Topics
['underpayment of Wages' 'award Coverage' 'sleepover Shifts' 'overtime and Public Holiday Entitlements' 'on Call Allowances' 'single Course of Conduct']
['industrial Law' 'employment Law'] ['underpayment of Wages' 'award Coverage' 'sleepover Shifts' 'overtime and Public Holiday Entitlements' 'on Call Allowances' 'single Course of Conduct']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Application for Penalties for Alleged Breaches of Industrial Awards / Liability Determined; Underpayments and Penalty Left for Later Hearing and Matter Adjourned to Directions Hearing

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the respondent committed a breach or non-observance of the Health Services Union of Australia (Victoria-Private Sector) Interim Award 1993 and the Health and Allied Services-Private Sector-Victoria Consolidated Award 1995.' "Whether those awards governed the applicants' terms and conditions of employment when performing sleepover shifts." "Whether performance of a sleepover shift and payment for it fell outside the relevant awards and were governed instead by a term of the applicants' contracts of employment." 'Whether the sleepover shift fell within the on-call provisions of the awards.' 'Whether the relevant breaches arose out of a single course of conduct for the purposes of s178(2) of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth).']

Ratio Decidendi

The applicants' sleepover shifts constituted work because they were required to remain on the respondent's premises, in a supervisory capacity and on immediate stand-by to assist the stand-up shift worker at very short notice. There was no evidence of a separate contractual arrangement taking the sleepover shifts outside the awards. In the absence of a specific award provision for sleepover shifts, employees performing that work were entitled to be paid for the shift as time worked under the relevant awards. The on-call provisions did not apply because the applicants were on duty, not off duty or at home. The respondent therefore breached the 1993 Award and the 1995 Award by failing to...

Court Disposition

Declarations made that the respondent breached the 1993 Award and the 1995 Award in relation to sleepover duties; breaches declared part of a single course of conduct; application otherwise adjourned to a directions hearing.

Orders

  • ['It is declared that the respondent committed a breach or non-observance of the Health Services Union of Australia (Victoria-Private Sector) Interim Award 1993 by failing to pay the applicants whilst engaged on sleepover duties in accordance with the terms of the Health and Allied Services Award of the Industrial...