The airline's customer centre in Auckland changed its fixed roster to a more irregular one, because it claimed that would achieve work life balance. But some employees found this was not the case.

Qantas has been ordered to pay $6000 to its employees for changing rosters without their agreement.

The airline's customer centre in Auckland changed its fixed roster to a more irregular one, because it claimed that would achieve work life balance. But some employees found this was not the case.

Unite Union and Qantas Airways had a collective agreement from April 2015 till September 2017. Under the agreement, unions can represent employees in the employer's workplace.

But the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found as Qantas failed to attempt to resolve the dispute, it breached the workers' collective agreements with the Union.

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In early 2015, Qantas employees worked on rotating roasters that had them working three lots of six days in a row and then one week of five days for 12 weeks before changing.

Later that year, Qantas introduced a preference based roster that enabled employees to work five fixed days in a row followed by two days off, after a popular vote from employees drove the change.

But a year after the fixed-day roster had been implemented, Qantas proposed a change back to a rotating roster, this time rotating every nine weeks.

The union on behalf of four workers, Prince Khobragade, Ashley Toetu, Chad Nicholson and Kalo Prescott, rejected the proposal to revert back to the old roster.

Despite there being no agreement, Qantas went ahead and change rosters in May 2017.

Qantas said the preferential roster change was a trial and there had been no promises made to staff ensuring no later changes could be made.

But the ERA said Qantas had not made any mention of the preferential roster being a trial or having any end date in the information provided to employees.

During the change from the rotating roster to the preferential roster, Qantas also hired 51 new employees to fill gaps in shifts.

The authority member said it would not have been logical for Qantas to invest in 51 new employees if the roster change was only a trial.

Toetu and Prescott, who were both hired in 2016, specifically to fill the gaps in the preference based rostered shifts, claimed the change to the new rosters in May 2017 were in breach of their individual terms and conditions of employment, in addition to the terms and conditions set out in the collective agreement.

The promise of fixed hours of work was a strong incentive for Prescott to accept the offer of employment with Qantas.

Throughout its communications with its employees in 2015 Qantas promoted the change to preference based rosters as a way to achieve work life balance.

But Khobragade told the ERA he had to constantly change childcare arrangements to fit with his rostered hours. As he only had one full weekend off every six weeks, his exhaustion could take a toll on his health, Khobragade said.

Similarly Nicholson said the impact of the new roster left him feeling fatigued and taking more sick leave.

Qantas also failed to attend mediation to attempt to resolve a dispute before implementing the new roster patterns and this was a breach of its good faith as an employer.

The ERA also directed the employees and Qantas to attend mediation.