Unions are hoping a new legal precedent will help them recover millions of dollars in lost wages.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has upheld an appeal lodged by the Electrical Trades Unions (ETU) on behalf of about 150 former FIFO workers from the INPEX Ichthys project, who had their final week of pay from principal contractor Kentz withheld.

The FWC ruled in favour of the ETU, stating that “in providing payment in lieu of notice, an employer cannot give notice that runs concurrently with a period R&R, with the effect of the worker’s final week being unpaid”, reports say.

The order should now see Kentz Australia pay the full period of notice to workers, worth over $1 million.

Commissioner Bissett said R&R is a benefit provided as part of the bargain between the parties to the Agreement, which “would be lost without recompense if notice, a different benefit, could override it”.

“Certainly the Agreement does not say notice cannot be served concurrent with a period of R&R but there are many other things the Agreement does not say – this cannot mean they are permissible.”

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (CCI) CEO Deidre Willmott did not agree with the Fair Work Commission decision.

“This decision will have significant ramifications for the industry,” Ms Willmott said.

“When major resource and construction projects are completed some roles are no longer required.

“This was a case of the union fomenting trouble at one workplace at the expense of Australia's reputation as a place to do business.”

The ETU says the precedent will not only let it reclaim lost wages for ETU members on the Ichthys project, but also for thousands of workers from other resource projects who have been fired while their companies ran notice and R&R concurrently.

The AMWU and CFMEU are reportedly working on their own plans to use the ruling for payment for their members.

“We will be working over the coming weeks and months to make sure that every cent owed to workers is paid,” CFMEU secretary Mick Buchan.

“This victory will not only see these 150 electricians receive additional payment, but it now opens the door for thousands of other FIFO workers who have been denied notice pay in breach of minimum conditions on resource projects in WA.

“The FWC’s decision puts resource companies and their contractors on notice that they can’t disregard the legal entitlements of FIFO workers.

“Rest and recreation leave is a hard-earned entitlement and the purpose of a notice period is to give workers the chance to look for a new job.

“Thousands of WA employees have been denied this right and had thousands of dollars stripped from their pay at the very time they need it the most,” he said.

Kentz Australia has 28 days from Wednesday to appeal the decision.