THE CHIEF executive of food manufacturer Byron Bay Superfoods says the company is considering appealing a decision from the Fair Work Commission ordering it to pay $10,000 in compensation to a South Sudanese refugee who won an unfair dismissal case against the company.
In May, Fair Work Commission vice president Adam Hatcher decided the company had unfairly and harshly dismissed one of its factory workers, who claimed was made redundant after putting forward a case to be paid unpaid overtime and correct entitlements under the industry award.
However, Byron Bay Superfoods chief executive Paul Owie says the case shows there are “issues with the Fair Work Commission and the ability of small business to make people redundant if there is a downturn”.
The employee, who arrived in Australia from South Sudan as a refugee in 2005, commenced work with Byron Bay Superfoods in 2014. The company makes snack foods, including Wallaby Bites and Superfoodie breakfast slices.
The worker claimed he was required to work unpaid overtime and was asked to take annual leave days when his manager directed him to take time off to account for periods of low activity in the business. He also claimed his direct manager spoke to him in a “nasty way”, and referred to black people as “coloured people”.
The employee claims that after making a request to be paid his full entitlements according to the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Manufacturing Award, he was offered a $1000 annual increase in wages, which he refused. He alleged the company then informed him his position was being made redundant and asked him to leave the business in August 2016.
However, Byron Bay Superfoods told the Fair Work Commission it had offered the wage increase as an incentive for retraining, due to the fact that new machinery was to be required in the area the worker was employed in.
The company claimed the worker had refused to be retrained, but on evidence given to the Commission, vice president Hatcher found there was no reason why the worker couldn’t have been retrained, and the employee insisted he was open to further training.
The dismissal was found to be unfair, with the Commission deciding the case was not one of genuine redundancy and even if it had been, proper consultation processes were not followed.
In a decision on penalties handed down on Friday, vice president Hatcher ordered Byron Bay Superfoods to pay the worker $10,694 in four instalments by the end of September 2017.