SriLankan Airlines suffers a major legal setback as the Court of Appeal dismisses its challenge against a Rs. 1.9 billion wage recovery order, reinforcing workers’ rights and ruling that pandemic-era salary cuts were unlawfully imposed.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a writ application filed by SriLankan Airlines Limited, which sought to challenge a ruling by the Assistant Commissioner of Labour concerning salary reductions implemented in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, including those affecting airline pilots.
In its judgment, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Labour Officer had acted within the scope of his lawful authority and jurisdiction when handling the matter.
The dispute originated when the SriLankan Airline Pilots’ Guild lodged a formal complaint with the Commissioner of Labour on March 2, 2021. The complaint alleged that the salary reductions introduced by the airline were imposed unilaterally and resulted in unlawful deductions from employee wages. Based on this complaint, a labour officer commenced an official inquiry and called for detailed explanations from SriLankan Airlines regarding the controversial salary cut policy.
Following the inquiry, the labour officer determined that the reductions amounted to unauthorised deductions from wages. The officer further concluded that these actions violated labour regulations and recommended recovery of the deducted amounts under the provisions of the Wages Boards Ordinance.
Acting on these findings, the Assistant Commissioner of Labour issued a directive ordering SriLankan Airlines to pay Rs. 1,928 million in recovered wages to affected employees, marking a significant financial and legal consequence for the national carrier.
Challenging this determination, SriLankan Airlines filed a writ application before the Court of Appeal seeking to quash the decision made by the Assistant Commissioner of Labour, arguing against the validity of the ruling.
The fourth and fifth respondents, Captain Suranga Samarasekera and the Airline Pilots’ Guild of Sri Lanka, submitted objections to the writ application. They maintained that the salary reductions had been imposed without employee consent, particularly affecting pilots, and were carried out without proper statutory authority or legal justification.
Justices Dhammika Ganepola and Adithya Patabendige, after reviewing the submissions and legal arguments presented by both parties, observed that there was no valid basis to interfere with the determination made by the Assistant Commissioner of Labour.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeal refused and dismissed the application for writs of certiorari and prohibition, effectively upholding the original ruling and reinforcing the legal position on unlawful wage deductions in Sri Lanka’s labour law framework.
