Senator Jacqui Lambie has railed against unfair dismissal laws, after herself facing a Fair Work case against a former staffer who claimed they were unfairly dismissed.
Late in the Senate on Wednesday, the Tasmanian senator used parliamentary privilege to detail the case against her, despite repeated warnings by the Senate president that doing so could identify her former employee.
Senator Lambie claimed in the chamber that her former staffer became dismissive to other staff and would leave the office without explanation.
“I got my own taste of the unfair dismissal system recently. I had a member of staff who worked hard for the first three months. Then we took them off probation, and what do you know? The person started showing up late for work, 22 times in a matter of weeks,” Senator Lambie claimed in the chamber.
But the senator said the final straw came after her office manager asked the employee why they were painting their nails at the desk.
“The staff member replied that they had finished their allocated tasks, and, as far as they were concerned, any time saved was their own downtime. Oh goodness me!” Senator Lambie exclaimed to the chamber.
“My office manager did the right thing.”
Senator Lambie claimed the employee was warned and subject to a performance review, that the issue was taken to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, and that the staff member resigned and sent “a nice little email” but then three weeks later filed an unfair dismissal claim.
The ABC understands the case was settled by PWSS and the employee paid an unknown amount.
Lambie claims unfair dismissal laws are broken
Senator Lambie has had an at times turbulent relationship with her staff.
In 2020, her former chief of staff Rob Messenger and his wife Fern, who was the senator’s office manager, claimed they were unfairly dismissed after complaining about “vile, profane and vulgar language” directed at them.
The pair lost that case after a federal court ruled that none of their allegations could be stacked up and their evidence had been “vengeful”.
Last year, Senator Tammy Tyrrell, who had been elected under the Jacqui Lambie Network banner, quit saying she had lost the senator’s confidence.
Senator Lambie told the Senate chamber there were more than 13,000 unfair dismissal claims in the 2022-23 financial year, and that each case typically costs a business over $10,000 — complaining on behalf of small businesses that even if a small business wins that case they often end up having to cover legal costs.
“How is that fair? This means that many small businesses will give a disgruntled employee a payout even if they are in the right because they want to avoid the legal costs. That is where this country has gone,” she said.
“If the government really care about small business, they need to get this sorted out. The unfair dismissal laws are broken and they have clearly gone way too far.”
The senator noted that as a member of parliament she would not have to cover the costs of the unfair dismissal claim against her.
