The full bench of the Fair Work Commission has found a decision by mining giant BHP to make COVID-19 vaccinations at a Hunter Valley mine mandatory was not lawful or reasonable.
More than 30 workers at BHP Billiton's Mt Arthur coal mine were stood down after being unable to provide evidence of their vaccination status.
Lawyers for union officials fought against the mandate, arguing there was a lack of consultation.
Today the commission's full bench said the direction was not covered by the mine's enterprise agreement for workers.
The dispute, led by the CFMEU, had been deemed a '"seminal case" because of its potential ramifications for workplace vaccination rules.
Before the decision today BHP's legal team told the commission that "the status quo" was "that health and safety controls must be complied with" and said it was was obliged to protect its workforce.
But at an earlier hearing the workers argued that the mandate was unlawful because it did not comply with consultation requirements in their employment agreement.
BHP rejected that claim and told the court it sought feedback from staff via company emails sent to employees.
But workers who gave evidence said there had been issues around accessing company emails.
BHP's health and safety representative was questioned in depth about consultation and acknowledged that prior to the mandate being announced the word "consultation" was not used.
The health and safety representative also agreed that in advice issued three days before the October 7 announcement company documents did not include the word "mandatory".
More to come.
