Businesses grappling with fortnightly fuel adjustments face overlapping legal obligations as the Fair Work Commission reviews the order
The Fair Work Commission's review of the Road Transport Contractual Chain Order (RTCCO) – a regulatory instrument requiring businesses across the freight supply chain to adjust road transport payments in line with fuel price movements – has exposed deep tensions between worker protections and business compliance capacity, a senior employment lawyer says.
Anthony Longland, partner, employee relations and safety at Mallesons, told HRD Australia that while the intent of the order is clear, its practical operation is creating significant difficulty for businesses at every level of the contractual chain.
"There is a strong desire to achieve compliance, so conservative approaches are being taken," Longland said. "Whether the alternative mechanism excuses compliance is one challenging issue, but so is upstream parties determining the road transport cost of a downstream player, and then what portion of that cost relates to fuel."
The RTCCO, made under the Fair Work Act using Minimum Standards Order provisions inserted into the Act in 2022, requires parties in the road freight contractual chain to pass through fuel cost adjustments on a fortnightly or twice-monthly basis when the diesel price exceeds $2 per litre. The order came into force with very limited notice, Longland said, catching many...
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