Industrial action can take several forms, employees may go on strike or impose work bans
Industrial action can take several forms. Employees may go on strike (i.e. refuse to attend or perform work) or impose work bans (i.e. refuse to perform all their normal duties).
It is important to note that unauthorised strikes or industrial action may result in disciplinary action from your employer, you must first have protected industrial action.
Please contact hotline@redunion.com.au if you would like to take protected industrial action.
In response to employee industrial action, employers may lock out their employees (i.e. close the doors or gates of a workplace and refuse to allow them to work).
Under the FW Act, industrial action is defined as to include the following actions:
- employees performing work in a manner different to how it is normally performed
- employees adopting a practice that restricts, limits or delays the performance of work
- a ban, limitation or restriction by employees on performing or accepting work
- a failure or refusal by employees to attend for work or perform any work
- the lockout of employees from their employment by their employer.
- A person is under no obligation to either take part, or not take part, in any form of industrial action unless they wish to do so.
Under the FW Act, industrial action does not include any of the following:
- action by employees that is authorised or agreed to by the employer
- action by an employer that is authorised or agreed to by, or on behalf of, employees
- action taken by an employee if:
- it was based on a reasonable concern about an imminent risk to their health or safety; and
- the employee did not unreasonably fail to comply with a direction of their employer to perform other work that was safe and appropriate for them to do.
- Industrial action under the FW Act can be protected or unprotected.