AAP
Qantas to pay staff $1,000 bonus
August 19, 2004 - 3:09PM
Qantas Airways Ltd said it will pay a $1,000 cash bonus to each staff member, after the airline reported a jump in annual net profit.
The airline said the bonus was in recognition of the staff contribution to the airline's 2003/04 profit results.
Qantas reported a net profit of $648.4 million for 2003/04, up $304.9 million from $343.5 million in the previous year.
The company said it would also commit $50 million over the next three years to initiatives that will assist staff to balance work and family commitments.
Chief executive Geoff Dixon said the bonus would be paid next week to all current permanent and fixed term staff employed in the Qantas Group in January 2004.
The bonus will apply equally to full and part time employees but will not be paid to executives who are already in an existing bonus scheme.
Mr Dixon said the Qantas board appreciated that the company owed much of its recent success to the commitment and dedication of its people.
The board also recognised that many staff were required to balance an increasingly busy range of work and personal commitments.
"We want to provide as much assistance as possible to help our people achieve a more satisfying balance," he said.
From Thursday, for all Qantas Group employees in Australia, the airline will increase paid maternity leave to ten weeks from six weeks, introduce ten weeks' paid adoption leave consistent with maternity leave, introduce one week's paid paternity leave and double the current entitlement to carers leave, to up to 10 days' leave per annum.
Mr Dixon said Qantas would also build two new child care centres, one in Melbourne and one in Brisbane, and evaluate child care needs for Qantas staff in other Australian cities where the company had a significant presence.
© 2004 AAP
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Last edited by Wirraway; 19th Aug 2004 at 05:46.