Coles Wins Employment Classification Case

The Federal Court of Australia has decided in favour of supermarket giant Coles in a case relating to the classification of its online delivery truck drivers. The court found that Coles had correctly classified the drivers and therefore had not underpaid them.

The Transport Workers Union took the matter before court after alleging that Coles had misclassified its truck drivers. Coles had classified the employees under its retail agreement instead of the more generous road transport awards. TWU argued that this was essentially the function of the employees. However, Justice Driver did not agree with TWU’s evaluation. Driver found that the tasks performed by the drivers were covered by the retail agreement. 

The employees were classified as customer service agents which involved stacking and driving trucks. They were also given training to work in-store and were able to be allocated in-store shifts. Justice Driver concluded that it was in this capacity as a CSA (Coles Store Assistant), that the employees were different to regular delivery drivers. The employees were found to be similar in their duties as newspaper delivery workers, who are covered by the retail industry award.

The decision could have significant implications for other major retailers with online delivery services. TWU stated that they will appeal this decision as the ramifications would mean that online service drivers continue to work on dangerous terms and conditions.

Michael Kaine, assistant national secretary of the TWU says:

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.

Coles wins underpayment case, as court backs supermarket over award rate issue