Senior officials from the country's tax office will be taken to court over a working from home clash between the agency and union members after mediation attempts failed.
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The tax branch of the Australian Services Union said it was disappointed it had not been able to reach an agreement with the Australian Taxation Office after it alleged the agency, its top bureaucrats and the Commonwealth had breached the Fair Work Act.
The union said the tax office had allowed its 17,000 employees to work from home when COVID-19 first hit in March 2020, but management had forced at least 1000 employees to return to the office with only three days' notice only a month later.
It claims this direction was in breach of existing workplace agreements while the office argued it did not apply to the new COVID-19 working-from-home policy.
Branch secretary Jeff Lapidos wrote to members on Friday morning conceding the union would now be forced to take the case to court.
"We are taking this legal action with much sadness and disappointment," Mr Lapidos said in an email.
"The ATO is led by very many fine people. We expect the office to support its staff as much as it possibly can. We don't understand why the office would not address our concerns many months ago in the Fair Work Commission: It could have and should have.
" The ATO could have and should have said last year that it made a mistake, apologised to those who were inconvenience or suffered hardship and we could have all moved on.
"Unfortunately, those with great power sometimes find it difficult to admit error."
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The developments follow a months-long mediation period after the union first announced its contention in December 2020.
The union will take the action against tax office commissioner Chris Jordan, four other senior public servants, and the government.
Under the agency's existing workplace agreement, a minimum of one week's notice is required to temporarily suspend working from home arrangements and four weeks are needed for the permanent end to those arrangements.
In May 2020, nearly a month after the union first approached the agency, the ATO said managers were told be as flexible as possible but that one week's notice for return-to-office directions couldn't be guaranteed.
Mr Lapidos told The Canberra Times in December its requests had been brushed off, leaving the union with no choice.
At the time, a spokesperson for the tax office denied the union's claims it had brushed off complaints regarding the changes.
"Contrary to claims of a brush-off, the ATO has remained committed to working with staff and staff representatives throughout the emergency situation, including multiple meetings with unions each week to ensure any staff concerns were identified and dealt with appropriately," an ATO spokesperson said.
"This approach has had great support and input from staff and representatives who, on the whole, remain appreciative of the efforts of the ATO and committed to supporting the community as best they can."
If found liable for breaching an enterprise agreement, the tax agency could be fined up to $63,000 while individuals found to be involved could be slapped with fines of $12,600.
For "serious" contraventions, that amount can increase to $126,000 for individuals and $630,000 for the agency.
A response was sought from the Australian Taxation Office on Friday morning.