Industrial Relations Act 1996

An employer who pays any remuneration or provides any other financial benefit to an employee in respect of time spent by the employee in engaging in industrial action is guilty of an offence.

The employer is not guilty of an offence if the payment of the remuneration or provision of the financial benefit was authorised or ordered by the Commission.

The Commission may, on the application of an industrial organisation of employees, authorise the payment of remuneration or the provision of financial benefits that would otherwise constitute an offence under this section. The Commission may, instead, order the employer to pay any such remuneration or provide any such benefit if it considers it appropriate in the circumstances.

The Commission may authorise or order an employer to do so—

only if the applicant satisfies the Commission that the relevant industrial action was based on a reasonable concern for health or safety, and

only to the particular employees whose health or safety caused that concern.

For the purposes of this section, industrial action is not based on a reasonable concern for health or safety if the employees whose health or safety is alleged to be involved have engaged in industrial action instead of complying with a direction by the employer—

to move to a specified safe place in the work place or to another suitable workplace, and

to do other appropriate and available work there if required.

In this section, employer includes a person acting on behalf of the employer.