Qantas defends call for staff volunteers over busy Christmas period

The national carrier has defended its controversial decision for staff to volunteer at the airport over Christmas.

Qantas has asked its staff to volunteer over the Christmas period. Source: AAP

Qantas has defended its decision to ask staff to volunteer their time at Sydney Airport over the busy Christmas period, insisting claims of "wage theft" are inaccurate.

The Australian Services Union has accused the airline of "rampant corporate greed" after the company emailed employees at its head office inviting them to assist airport teams over the December - January period.

The volunteer role involves working four-hour shifts and includes handing out water bottles and chocolates to passengers at airports, and helping people find their way around the terminal.

"We always scale up with additional paid staff over the peak holiday period. And we also asked head office employees if they’d like to lend a hand," Qantas said in a statement.

"It is not cutting costs, this is about spreading a bit of Christmas cheer during a really busy period."

Australian Services Union NSW branch secretary Natalie Lang said the move represented a "Grinch performance" and called on Qantas to withdraw the program immediately. 

"The conduct of this work stands to benefit Qantas and Qantas alone."

"Qantas are a multi-billion dollar corporation operating to make a profit, they are not a charity feeding the homeless."

A Qantas spokesperson told SBS News it was "optional" for staff from the finance, marketing and IT departments to participate in the program and insisted it was not unpaid work.

It’s understood workers on a wage would fulfil their volunteer duties within their usual rostered paid hours while it would be a “case-by-case basis” for full-time staff.

The spokesperson also told SBS News the airline had run the volunteer program before.

“It’s unfortunate that the ASU is trying to turn this into a negative. It’s all hands on deck at this time of year and we’re really grateful that some head office staff are willing to lend a hand,” the statement said.

The Qantas Group posted a record profit of $1.6 billion for the 2017/18 financial year.