National Jet to face court on July 3

The directions hearing for the Office of Workplace Services case against Perth-based National Jet Systems will be held on July 3 in Perth, the office confirmed today.

The company was charged on Monday with applying duress to employees, after allegedly withholding the pay rise entitlements of three pilots until they signed new Australian Workplace Agreements.

OWS is seeking penalties for underpayment of entitlements totalling $5377.31 for the pilots, and for duress in two of those cases, as well as full recovery of the underpayment.

The full text of an announcement from OWS is pasted below

The Directions Hearing for the Office of Workplace Services (OWS) case against National Jet Systems has been set for 9am on 3 July 2007, in the Federal Magistrates Court in Perth.

OWS last week initiated prosecution of transport company, National Jet Systems Pty Ltd, for allegedly attempting to force pilots to sign new Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) and withholding pay increases due under their existing AWAs.

Australian workplace law expressly forbids anyone from applying duress to an employee in connection with an AWA (section 400(5)) of the Workplace Relations Act 1996).

The OWS case seeks penalties for underpayment of entitlements totalling $5377.31 for three pilots, and for duress in two of those cases, as well as full recovery of the underpayment. OWS had previously indicated duress in all three cases.

OWS, soon to be the Workplace Ombudsman, is committed to ensuring that the rights and obligations of workers and employers under workplace law are protected, understood and enforced fairly.

In just over one year as an independent agency, OWS has recovered over $11.4 million for more than 7400 employees across Australia.