Two allowances, two different answers - and $91K a year hung in the balance
Chevron got it half right.
The Federal Court of Australia ruled on October 13 that the energy giant lawfully withheld one allowance from striking workers - but contravened the Fair Work Act by docking another.
The dispute traces back to September 2023, when employees represented by the Australian Workers' Union took protected industrial action at Chevron's oil and gas operations across northwest Western Australia. The work stoppages ran from September 8 to 21, during a period of enterprise bargaining between the company and the union.
Chevron's workforce at those remote sites - fly-in, fly-out employees on rotating rosters - received two allowances on top of their base salary under the company's Rotational Benefits Policy. The first, a Field Loading Allowance, compensated workers for the hardships of remote postings: the isolation, the gruelling travel, the accommodation conditions, the safety regime. Onshore workers received $76,000 a year; offshore workers, $91,000.
The second was a Transport Allowance of $148.68 per month, paid to help cover the cost of getting from home to designated assembly points - in most cases, Perth Domestic Airport or Onslow Town Centre - before Chevron flew them out to site.
When the strikes hit, Chevron made proportionate deductions from both allowances for each day of industrial action. The union said that was unlawful - a breach of section 323 of the Fair Work Act,...
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