FIFO mining compensation payout: Jamie-Lee | Australian Markets

A fly-in, fly-out employee who was accused of being at fault for the loss of $200,000 value of gold at a WA mine web site has been awarded more than $30,000 after the Fair Work Commission discovered she was unfairly dismissed.

Perth Jamie-Lee Corless-Crane had labored as a pit technician for Aurenne Group Mining in Mt Ida for 15 months earlier than the incident on January 7.

The gold was misplaced when three long-term geology division staff marked the improper mining location, and so the gold from the wrongly marked location was taken to waste as an alternative of being processed.

Aurenne claimed Ms Corless-Crane’s failure to verify a dig web site towards a map she had been given led to 54 ounces of gold being discarded.

Ms Corless-Crane was instantly stood down and an investigation was launched.

Per week later, she acquired an e-mail saying she had did not take “due diligence” in her position.

Ms Corless-Crane responded to the e-mail and reminded her employer she was the “least experienced member” of the geology division.

“I rely on the information provided to me from my department and trust that it is accurate,” she wrote.

On January 22, she was instructed she had been dismissed, efficient instantly.

Fair Work Commission deputy president Melanie Binet discovered the previous DJ and hairdresser had “limited” mining expertise and so she couldn’t be blamed, making the dismissal “harsh, unjust and unreasonable”.

“She was a junior, inexperienced employee working in the early hours of the morning on her first night shift of swing, is a single mother, the income earner for herself and her young child, with caring responsibilities for her elderly grandparents,”Ms Binet mentioned in her determination.

“Ms Corless-Crane was the last and potentially least experienced employee to have failed to identify the error in mark-up,

“The opportunity to identify the error earlier was missed by the excavator operators and geology team members operating during daylight hours with far better visibility and more experience than Ms Corless-Crane.

“Even if Ms Corless-Crane had been able to identify the error in mark-up, the loss of ore had already commenced occurring before she was called to the mining location.

“While there might possibly have been an opportunity for Ms Corless-Crane to identify the error in the mining location, I am not satisfied that her failure to do so was sufficiently serious to constitute a valid reason for her termination in all the circumstances.”

Ms Binet mentioned the company had “failed” because the particular person finally answerable for the loss of the gold was solely given a written warning.

“In determining to impose a different disciplinary outcome on the surveyor, Aurenne appear to have failed to give weight to the fact that Ms Corless-Crane has significantly less qualifications and experience in the industry,” she mentioned.

Ms Binet ordered the company to pay Ms Corless-Crane 4 months’ wages.