Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union v Boral Resources (Vic) Pty Ltd & Ors

The High Court of Australia considered a dispute between the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) and Boral Resources (Vic) Pty Ltd and others concerning the interpretation and application of enterprise agreements. The core of the dispute involved whether certain payments made by Boral to its employees constituted wages or were instead payments for a different purpose, impacting the calculation of entitlements under the relevant agreements.

The central legal question before the High Court was whether the payments made by Boral to its employees, described as "site allowance" payments, were properly characterised as wages for the purposes of calculating other entitlements, such as redundancy pay and long service leave, which were stipulated to be calculated by reference to ordinary pay. The Court also had to determine whether the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) or the terms of the enterprise agreements themselves governed the characterisation of these payments.

The High Court, in a joint judgment, reasoned that the characterisation of the payments depended on their nature and purpose, not merely their label. It held that the site allowance payments were not "wages" in the ordinary sense, as they were not paid for work performed but rather as compensation for the adverse conditions and inconveniences associated with working at particular sites. The Court found that the enterprise agreements did not define "wages" in a way that would encompass these site allowances, and therefore, they were not to be included in the calculation of ordinary pay for the purposes of redundancy and long service leave entitlements. The Court emphasised the importance of construing the specific terms of the enterprise agreements and the relevant statutory provisions in determining the nature of such payments.

The High Court allowed the appeal, finding that the site allowance payments were not to be included in the calculation of ordinary pay for the purposes of redundancy and long service leave entitlements.