Six firefighters are suing the ACT government over what they say were unfair refusals of leave entitlements ahead of their planned retirements.
One of the firefighters said he felt he had been treated with contempt by an organisation that was trying to rid itself of an older generation of workers, who had allegedly been referred to as "white rhinos".
The group, which has a combined 227 years of service with ACT Fire and Rescue, is seeking a combined $193,543.80 to make up for lost entitlements when they were denied requests to take leave at half-pay.
The government also faces penalties worth up to $63,000 for each breach of the law.
The United Firefighters Union has begun court action on behalf of the group, having sought a resolution to the issue since December last year.
Despite a Fair Work Commission finding that five of the firefighters were entitled to leave during a dispute process, ACT Fire & Rescue has still not paid one of the firefighters who they deemed was on unauthorised leave, the union said.
A statement of claim filed in the Federal Court this week seeks compensation, findings of multiple Fair Work Act breaches and names the head of the ACT public service and ACT Fire & Rescue chief officer Matthew Mavity as respondents.
The enterprise agreement struck between firefighters and the ACT government in 2020 affords workers the right to flexible work arrangements, including job-sharing and annual leave taken at half-pay.
Workers can apply under the agreement for flexible working arrangements to support work-life balance, parenting or caring responsibilities or if they are aged 55 and over. The group of six were all aged over 55.
"The head of service may only deny an employee's request for flexible working arrangements where there are reasonable business grounds to do so," the agreement said, court documents show.
The statement of claim alleges ACT Fire & Rescue failed to demonstrate reasonable grounds to refuse the flexible work arrangement requests.
Michael Cochrane, 65, first made a request for flexible work because he and his wife were to provide full-time care for their six-year-old granddaughter. The request was rejected.
The rejection cited staffing numbers, fatigue management and the obligation under the enterprise agreement to fill new positions at the commander level, the statement of claim said.
Mr Cochrane, who joined ACT Fire & Rescue in September 1982 and rose to the rank of commander, was then denied further requests for flexible work and a job-sharing arrangement, the statement of claim said.
ACT Fire & Rescue later placed Mr Cochrane on unpaid unauthorised leave, but the Fair Work Commission determined he was to be on leave at full pay, the claim said.
Leave at half-pay would have taken Mr Cochrane to his intended retirement date at the end of this year, but he was instead left in a position where he received a lump sum payment and had to draw sooner on his superannuation account.
"It has a financial impost. It's hard to calculate," he said.
Mr Cochrane lost $12,250.53 as a result of being denied the leave arrangements, the statement of claim said.
Mr Mavity allegedly referred to Mr Cochrane and other older generation firefighters as "white rhinos" and that he was hunting "white rhinos", the court documents said.
Mr Cochrane told the Sunday Canberra Times ACT Fire & Rescue had really wanted to get rid of the older generation, and it had been different to how the organisation had treated people in the past.
"I find that really disappointing, too, because to be targeted, when you reach the end of your career, it's not a pleasant thing," he said.
"You want to go out on a good note - not on a negative note, not using sick leave that you didn't want to use and things like that.
"It was disappointing. But I feel I've been treated with contempt."
Mr Cochrane said it seemed the attitude towards the enterprise agreement was negative.
"I think a lot of things in the enterprise agreement they failed to implement. I find it really disappointing when lots of people in government talk about work-life balance and being family friendly, and this is the exact opposite to that," he said.
"And then, of course, it causes you stress."
United Firefighters Union ACT branch secretary Greg McConville said the union had got nowhere in seeking a resolution through a formal disputes process.
The Fair Work Commission did not have the jurisdiction to award compensation or to impose penalties after the affected firefighters' leave balances had run down, he said.
"That's why we've now gone to court, because this matter got dragged out so long that any prospect of resolving it just passed with the time," Mr McConville said.
Mr McConville also pointed to significant ACT Fire & Rescue's savings on the overtime bill since the new enterprise agreement of more than $4.6 million, more than offsetting the cost of allowing flexible work arrangements for soon-to-be-retired firefighters.
Mr Cochrane hoped the issue was resolved for firefighters who came towards retirement after him.
"This will have long-term implications for the rest of the workforce. And it'll have implications for any future negotiations of enterprise agreements as well," he said.
"So it's very important that this is taken as far as it can."
An ACT government spokesman said: "The Emergency Services Agency does not comment on individual employee leave arrangements.
"As this matter is currently before the Federal Court, we cannot comment on this matter."
