Mining worker on $187,000 is forced to return to the office from maternity leave after Fair Work fight

By ASHLEY NICKEL, NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 15:50, 24 August 2026 | Updated: 15:53, 24 August 2026 The Fair Work Commission has denied a new mother's request to extend her unpaid maternity leave by six months. Jessica Donnelly, a Brisbane-based data specialist for mining giant Whitehaven Coal, was given six months of paid leave by the company and six months unpaid leave. Workers in Australia have the right to 12 months' unpaid parental leave. Ms Donnelly argued the six months paid leave from Whitehaven shouldn't be included in that 12 months but given separately, meaning she'd have 18 months leave. She works for the company's remote operations centre in Brisbane and earns $187,000 for her specialised technical skills, including with complex Corvus software. Whitehaven said it needed Ms Donnelly back at work to help ease the unsafe workload on her team and expand its data analytics to cover additional mines in NSW. However, Ms Donnelly said she wouldn't be able to return as she was struggling to find childcare for her baby. Whitehaven denied her request for an extra six months of unpaid leave, prompting Ms Donnelly to take the matter to the FWC. Jessica Donnelly (above), a Brisbane-based data specialist for mining giant Whitehaven Coal, took the mining giant to Fair Work last week Fair Work ruled Ms Donnelly's paid and unpaid maternity leave ran 'concurrently' and ordered her to return to work after 12 months off She argued Whitehaven was a 'large, sophisticated business that is more than capable of replacing a worker for a further period of six months'. Ms Donnelly added the mining giant had been 'dismissive' of her difficulty finding childcare, even though she'd had her child on waiting lists since birth and inspected multiple centres.  In response, Whitehaven said it would be 'impractical' to hire a contractor for six months as onboarding alone would cost it upwards of $200,000.   Commissioner Paula Spencer last week ruled Ms Donnelly's paid and unpaid leave ran 'concurrently', meaning she was only entitled to 12 months off. 'Section 79b of the (Fair Work) Act sets out that unpaid parental leave is not extended by paid leave or keeping in touch days,' she said. 'It explicitly states that if during a period of unpaid parental leave, that an employee takes paid leave or performs work on a keeping in touch day, that this leave or work does not extend the period of unpaid parental leave.' Commissioner Spencer added the company also had 'reasonable business grounds' for refusing Ms Donnelly's extended leave request. '(Whitehaven) requires (Ms Donnelly) to return to her work to alleviate the pressure (the data team is) facing and that there is no viable alternative bar (her) return to work to accommodate the range of matters referred to in their reasonable business grounds for the refusal,' she said. In a compromise, Ms Donnelly was granted an additional six weeks leave to cover the time until her child turns one and can take a spot at a four-day childcare centre. Ms Donnelly will return to work on September 14.