The Western Australian Prison Officers Union brought proceedings on behalf of its member who was a Principal Officer at the Karnet Prison Farm. The Union alleged the officer should have been paid at overtime rates for her work on the King’s Birthday public holiday.

The employer denied the claim on the basis that payment for working public holidays was part of the officer’s annual salary.

The Union and the employer disagreed about which clauses of the industrial agreement applied to the officer and how those clauses applied. Industrial Magistrate Kucera needed to determine the meaning of certain terms of the industrial agreement.

His Honour found there was ambiguity in the industrial agreement, so that it was necessary to have regard to surrounding circumstances and the context in which the agreement was negotiated. Doing so, his Honour concluded that the annualised salary for officers was only for ordinary hours, and that working on public holidays was not included in the annualised salary.

Further, his Honour found that the rostered hours for a principal officer are the ordinary hours, and principal officers are not paid for working public holidays.

Accordingly, the public holiday that the Principal Officer had worked on the employer’s direction attracted overtime, and the failure to pay overtime was in breach of the industrial agreement.  

The decision can be read here.