On 17 May 2006 Justice Ryan imposed a penalty of $900.
His Honour considered the following factors to be relevant:
- The work was completed on time and on budget;
- Maxim had incurred costs as a result of this proceeding including legal costs; and
- Maxim had no prior convictions.
Maxim had submitted that although it knew the payment of strike pay was unlawful, in this case as the employees were in the sheds because the safety committee was conducting a safety walk, the Maxim officials believed that Maxim was required by law to pay the employees.
His Honour said he considered the liability imposed by the Act as strict in the sense that oversight or lack of awareness that a particular stoppage amounts to industrial action does not constitute a defence.